One of Nigeria's most prominent stars has warned that their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against South Africa is a must-win clash for them.
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This season, Wilfred Ndidi played a key role as Enzo Maresca's Leicester City gained automatic promotion back to the Premier League.
The Italian tactician utilised the 27-year-old in a more attacking position, with the player managing to register the most goals and assists in a single campaign of his career this season.
While he has been a prominent figure for the Foxes, he has not yet been able to showcase his abilities for the Super Eagles in a competitive capacity in 2024.
The Lagos native was expected to take part in Nigeria's run to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final, but missed the competition through injury.
He will, however, have the opportunity to rectify that with two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers looming for the west African giants.
The three-time African champions are winless in their World Cup qualifying campaign so far, and with matches against Bafana Bafana and Benin on the horizon, Ndidi has labelled the games as must-win encounters.
"Yeah, they [the matches] are really important because we know where we stand at the moment. It's not a good position, to be honest, we should be honest with ourselves," the Nigeria vice-captain told Arise TV.
"As long as you're in that group, you want to qualify so there are no small country or small team.
"Where we are at the moment gives us more pressure, because these games are must-win games.
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"I'm not saying we will win the game, but I'm saying they are must-win games because we don't know what's going to happen, but it all bores down to us as a team because we know what is at hand and then we know we have to get as much as we can in these two games just to go up there."
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