{"id":1711,"date":"2025-11-14T07:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T07:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1711"},"modified":"2025-11-13T23:29:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T23:29:48","slug":"nigeria-thrash-gabon-4-1-to-boost-world-cup-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1711","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria thrash Gabon 4-1 to boost World Cup hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Victor Osimhen scored twice as the Super Eagles sealed an emphatic 4-1 victory over the Panthers of Gabon in extra time to advance to the next playoff stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Thursday at Stade Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a goalless first half, Akor Adams broke the deadlock early in the second half, capitalising on a player\u2019s error to put Nigeria ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tiwa Savage - You4Me (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"735\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JF3aUxOWgwk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Gabon, however, equalised four minutes before the end of the match, forcing the game into extra time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chidera Ejuke restored Nigeria\u2019s lead with a composed finish before Osimhen extended the advantage, netting twice to put the result beyond doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Super Eagles\u2019 solid defensive display, led by Benjamin Frederick and Calvin Bassey, ensured Gabon\u2019s late efforts came to nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The win moves Nigeria closer to securing a spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the final playoff round set to determine their qualification status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nigeria secured a spot among the top runners-up in the African qualifiers, buoyed by a dominant 4-0 win over the Benin Republic that saw Victor Osimhen net a remarkable hat-trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gabon, meanwhile, finished second in Group F behind the Ivory Coast to earn their own playoff place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nigeria will go on to face either Cameroon or the Democratic Republic of Congo on November 16, with the victor of that tie advancing to the inter-continental playoff for a chance at a World Cup berth. <a href=\"https:\/\/punchng.com\/live-updates-nigeria-gabon-lock-horns-in-decisive-2026-wcup-playoff\/\">(Punch)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victor Osimhen scored twice as the Super Eagles sealed an emphatic 4-1 victory over the Panthers of Gabon in extra time to advance to the next playoff stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Thursday at Stade Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. After a goalless first half, Akor Adams broke the deadlock early in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[419,2170,1977,753,424,2169,2168,422,1661],"class_list":["post-1711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-2026-fifa-world-cup","tag-akor-adams","tag-gabon","tag-morocco","tag-nigeria","tag-panthers","tag-playoff","tag-super-eagles","tag-victor-osimhen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nigeria thrash Gabon 4-1 to boost World Cup hopes - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1711\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigeria thrash Gabon 4-1 to boost World Cup hopes - Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Victor Osimhen scored twice as the Super Eagles sealed an emphatic 4-1 victory over the Panthers of Gabon in extra time to advance to the next playoff stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Thursday at Stade Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. After a goalless first half, Akor Adams broke the deadlock early in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1711\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-14T07:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SUPER-EAGLES-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\"},\"headline\":\"Nigeria thrash Gabon 4-1 to boost World Cup hopes\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-14T07:20:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711\"},\"wordCount\":259,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/SUPER-EAGLES-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2026 FIFA World Cup\",\"Akor Adams\",\"Gabon\",\"Morocco\",\"Nigeria\",\"Panthers\",\"playoff\",\"Super Eagles\",\"Victor Osimhen\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=1711\",\"name\":\"Nigeria thrash Gabon 4-1 to boost World Cup hopes - 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