The three-time African champion Super Eagles midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, will be prepared to play Benin Republic in their opening 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match on Saturday.
At the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Saturday, September 7, Augustine Eguavoen’s squad will play the Benin Republic in a match that will serve as their first AFCON qualifying campaign.
Even if the Eagles are favored to win, the visitors will be encouraged by their previous meeting with the hosts, which ended with a historic triumph three months ago in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Ivory Coast. 52 spots higher in the world rankings, the Cheetahs stunned their opponents by coming back from behind in a 2-1 victory over Nigeria, which Gernot Rohr masterminded.
When Dele-Bashiru made his competitive debut for the Eagles in June, he scored the game-winning goal in Uyo against South Africa. However, he was injured during the next game against their neighbours, BrandSpur national news desk reports.
Dele-Bashiru, one of Nigeria’s best players outside of the top five leagues in Europe, made an outstanding debut season with Hatayspor in the Turkish top division. Last season, he participated in 39 games across all competitions, tallying six assists and nine goals.
His impressive form earned him a call-up to the national team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin in June.
The 23-year-old started the qualifying game against Bafana Bafana and scored before being taken off at halftime after he suffered an injury in the 1-1 draw. The Lazio midfielder failed to recover in time for Nigeria’s 2-1 loss to Benin.
Now in camp in what could be his second competitive game—the same venue where he made his competitive debut—Dele-Bashiru said he was looking forward to the game as he hoped to help the team to victory.
Following an interview with the local news brand, Dele-Bashiru stated: “I am looking forward to playing more than anything. I am training hard because it is not a given that I am going to play, but I just have to prove myself because I am still new to the team.”
“I am going to keep training hard, and hopefully if I play, however, I can help the team; that’s what I am going to do,” he went on to say.
Regarding the Eagles’ label as favourites, the midfielder continued: “If you go through the history of Nigeria and Benin, you might want to say they are the underdogs, but football is 11 against 11, and on that day anything can happen, but we have to be well prepared for the match.
“We saw the last time we played that it wasn’t an easy match. We scored the first goal but lost concentration, and they went 2-1 up, and from there it became a very difficult match. We were defending a lot. We have to be ready for this, and that is why we can’t overlook this game,” he added.
He also added that the team will play with absolute focus: “As a player, you can let all the things happening in the media or background affect you. On the pitch, you have a job to do, and I am sure all the players will be looking forward to the game coming up.
“We will go for all three points, but we can’t overlook any team that we are going to play against; we have to go into the game with the mindset that we are going to win, and we have to be 100 percent in the game because the AFCON is a big competition and we want to qualify, and all of Nigerians want us to qualify,” said the African star.
The midfielder said: “We will go for all three points, but we can’t overlook any team that we are going to play against; we have to go into the game with the mindset that we are going to win, and we have to be 100 ppercentin the game because the AFCON is a big competition and we want to qualify, and all of Nigerians want us to qualify.”
