ABIDJAN – Nigeria will today, Wednesday, confront host Côte d’Ivoire in the 2026 African Nations Cup Zone 3 Qualifiers, following an impressive opening day victory over Niger Republic.
The Nigerian men’s team began their campaign on Tuesday with a hard-fought 3-1 win. Nigeria claimed the opening set 25-22 before Niger Republic leveled with a 25-19 win in the second set.
Coach Taiwo Oladipupo’s side showed resilience to regain control, taking the third set 25-23 in a tight contest. They then produced a dominant display in the fourth set, sealing the match 25-9.
Reacting to the win, head coach Taiwo Oladipupo expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance and their ability to respond after dropping the second set.
“First of all, I thank Almighty God for giving us our first win of the tournament. I'm very happy with the result. The boys lost the second set, but they responded brilliantly by winning the third and fourth sets,” Oladipupo said.
The coach acknowledged that there were areas to improve on, but insisted the team will learn from the mistakes.
“We will go back and work on the areas where we made mistakes. This is a game of perseverance, and we know exactly what happened. We will correct those errors and come back stronger,” he added.
With the win over Niger Republic giving Nigeria an early boost, focus has now shifted to today’s crucial encounter against the host nation.
Despite facing the home crowd in Abidjan, Oladipupo maintained that Nigeria’s objective remains unchanged.
“Whether they are the hosts or not, our approach remains the same. We are going all out to play whoever comes our way. Our objective is simple, to secure the three points and move on, and that's exactly what we will be aiming for,” he stated.
Nigeria will be aiming to build on the momentum from the opening win as they continue their quest for qualification from the Zone 3 tournament to the 2026 African Nations Cup.
Written by Mr Charles Mayuku
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