Super Eagles

Nigeria will not win the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations even if they clinch qualification later this month, says former DR Congo captain Gabriel Zakuani.

The three-time African champions are currently top of Group L where all the teams, which include Benin, Sierra Leone and Lesotho, can still qualify for January’s finals in Cameroon. The Super Eagles would have already qualified had they not let slip a 4-0 lead at home to Sierra Leone, who salvaged a dramatic 4-4 draw with two goals in the last ten minutes, last November.

”At this moment, I don’t quite feel they are ready because champions will not give away four-goal leads, so I don’t expect them to win,” Zakuani told a special edition of the BBC’s Sports Africa TV programme.

The month of March sees the culmination of the Nations Cup qualifying with the final two rounds of matches in each of the 12 groups, where 39 of the 48 teams can still go through. So far, Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia and Mali have joined hosts Cameroon at the delayed finals, leaving 19 places left to fill.

Nigeria currently top Group L on eight points, one ahead of Benin while Sierra Leone have three points and Lesotho two. The first matches later this month sees the Nigerians travelling to Benin while Lesotho host Sierra Leone.

On the final matchday, Nigeria will play Lesotho in Lagos while Sierra Leone play Benin in a game moved to Guinea because the stadium in Freetown has been prevented from hosting international matches.

While Zakuani has blamed a lack of consistency in the squad and insisted upon a need for a settled side, Nigeria forward Alex Iwobi is trying to focus on what is going well.

“The positive you can take is we are still on course to be top of the table, so we are confident we have the quality to do so and put 100% for 90 minutes this time, so we can qualify,” the Everton star told BBC Sport Africa.