It's the first international break of the season and the Super Eagles are set to play in their last round of AFCON qualifiers against Sao Tome and Principe on Sunday, 10 September.
Already, the Super Eagles have qualified for the showpiece event which takes place at the start of next year but they will still be motivated to win this match.
With the new additions to the national team, especially in attack, the players in the squad will be eager to impress and keep their place before the next round of internationals which marks the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign as well as dress rehearsal matches for AFCON 2023.
Victor Boniface, Gift Orban and Jordan Torunarigha all get first-time Super Eagles call-up 🇳🇬
Sensational 😋 pic.twitter.com/6RV8VE1E8X
— Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) September 3, 2023
How have the Super Eagles fared in qualifying so far?
The Super Eagles of Nigeria were drawn into Group A along with Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and Sierra Leone.
When the draw for this group was completed, it was obvious who the favorites to qualify were and it was expected to be a largely smooth campaign for the African footballing giants.
When you look at the current standings, The Super Eagles have made it to the Africa Cup Of Nations with relative ease. Four wins and 12 points from five games played with only one loss. One of those wins includes a 10-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe, who they face once again this weekend.
Although it looked smooth, they were still shocked at home by Guinea Bissau and needed a late winner to bear Sierra Leone. There were great performances during their campaign but there were questionable ones too.
Although they managed to accrue 12 points from their games played, they have not amassed the most points at this stage of the qualifiers when it comes to all the nations that participated in this stage.
We look at three other teams that have won more points than the Super Eagles in their respective groups.
Algeria
The 2019 champions who knocked the Super Eagles out at the Semifinal stage in that competition will be favorites for the next one based on their performance in the qualification stage alone.
Algeria are the only national team with a 100% perfect record in the qualifiers so far as they have won five out of fine games, giving them 15 points.
They were drawn in Group F with Tanzania, Uganda and Niger.
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea have managed four wins, a draw and a loss in their qualification group J. They were drawn with Tunisia, Botswana and Libya.
They scored nine times and conceded seven times during their completed qualification campaign. The Super Eagles still have a chance to surpass them his weekend with a win.
Senegal
Last but not least are the current Champions of Africa, Senegal. The Teranga Lions are one of only three unbeaten teams in the qualifiers and have accrued 13 points from five games played.
They will be hoping to keep that record when they close out their qualification campaign against Rwanda on Saturday.
The Super Eagles can end up with more points than two of these three teams come the end of the final matchday, depending on what happens. They are also the top scorers in qualifying with 16 goals to their name.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 weeks ago
