The Super Eagles have booked their ticket for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year before kicking a ball in the qualifier against Benin Republic in Porto-Novo.
The Nigerians needed Sierra Leone to fail to beat Lesotho in Maseru earlier on Saturday to secure their passage before their own game against Benin, and that was exactly what happened.
Lesotho, bottom of the group, held third-placed Leone Stars to a 0-0 draw, giving Nigeria a safe passage to the AFCON finals.
With the draw and the one point each team got, Sierra Leone have four points from five games, while Lesotho have three points from the same number of games.
Nigeria are on top of the group with eight points and are now guaranteed of at least the top two spots in Group L, as they are four points clear of third place with only one game left for Sierra Leone.
A draw between Benin Republic, who are second with seven points, and Nigeria would also send the Beninoise through as they would open an unassailable four-point gap over Sierra Leone.
The first two teams from each group qualify for the 24-team African showpiece, which was shifted from 2021 to 2022 as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.
This will be the 19th time Nigeria will be attending Africa’s biggest and most important single-sport competition.
The continent’s most populous country has won the AFCON title three times (1980 on home soil, 1994 in Tunisia and 2013 in South Africa) and finished third the last time out in Egypt in 2019.
This is also the first time the Super Eagles will be qualifying for consecutive AFCON tournaments since 2010.
