By Milcah Tanimu
Rwanda’s captain, Djihad Bizimana, has played down the significance of the result in today’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria. Bizimana believes the outcome will not influence their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Rwanda sits two points behind Benin in the race for the second qualification spot in Group D, with Nigeria already securing the top spot. To qualify for AFCON, Rwanda must beat Nigeria and hope Libya defeats Benin.
While Rwanda is in a strong position to qualify for their first World Cup, sitting top of Group C in the qualifiers, Bizimana doesn’t see today’s game affecting their future World Cup clash with Nigeria.
He explained, “There are always changes in the squad, so we don’t know if the same players will play in the next few months.” Bizimana emphasized that the focus now is solely on the upcoming AFCON game.
Nigeria’s coach, Austin Eguavoen, could also make changes to his lineup for the match, considering their qualification is already secured.
