The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has selected the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja and the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo to host the Super Eagles’ home matches for their upcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The African football governing body approved the two stadiums for Nigeria and also revealed that a total of 24 countries will have to play their home matches on neutral grounds as only half of the 48 countries competing in the qualifiers have approved stadiums.
Egypt got the most authorized stadiums with six, while Algeria and Morocco are joint-second with five.
The Super Eagles are in Group B of the AFCON qualifiers, along with West African neighbors Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone, as well as Central African island nation Sao Tome and Principe.
Jose Peseiro’s team is presently top of the group with six points from two games after a 2-1 defeat of the Leone Stars in the opening group game and a 10-0 thumping of the Falcons and the True Patriots of Sao Tome.
One of the two stadiums will definitely host the match between the Eagles and Guinea-Bissau when the two West African nations face off in the first game of their double-header on March 20.
The three-time AFCON winners last played at the Abuja stadium in March 2022, in a World Cup playoff match against the Black Stars of Ghana. They drew the tie 1-1 but eventually missed out on the quadrennial tournament on away goal rules after a goalless draw in the initial fixture in Kumasi.
