Super Eagles midfielder Fisayo Dele–Bashiru has stated that the three-time Africa champions will be fully ready to face Benin Republic in their first 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture on Saturday.
Augustine Eguavoen’s team will host the BeninoiNigeria host Benin Republic at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Saturday, September 7 to begin their qualifying campaign for the next AFCON tournament.
While the Eagles are favoured to win the encounter, the visitors will be buoyed by the result of their last encounter against the hosts, when they claimed a famous victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture in Ivory Coast three months ago.
Gernot Rohr masterminded a 2-1 win over Nigeria, as the Cheetahs came from behind to stun their opponents, who are 52 places higher in the world rankings.
Dele-Bashiru was impressive in his competitive debut for the Eagles in June, scoring the equaliser against South Africa in Uyo, but was sidelined by injury during the subsequent game against their neighbours.
One of Nigeria’s best players outside Europe’s top five leagues last season, Dele-Bashiru had an impressive debut campaign in the Turkish topflight with Hatayspor.
He played 39 matches in all competitions last season, scoring nine goals and providing six assists.
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.
“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,” the midfielder exclusively told The PUNCH.
“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.”
On the Eagles being tagged as the favourites, the midfielder added, “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.”
The Manchester City academy graduate added that the team would go into the game with maximum concentration.
“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,” he added.
“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 per cent in the game because the AFCON is a big competition and we want to qualify, and all of Nigerians want us to qualify.”
“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 per cent in the game because the AFCON is a big competition and we want to qualify, and all of Nigerians want us to qualify.”
PUNCH
