The Super Eagles’ delegation to Saturday’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Liberia in Tangier, Morocco arrived in the country yesterday morning aboard a chartered Air Peace Embraer E-195 E2 jet after a four-and-half hour cruise from Morocco’s principal northern town to Lagos.

The aircraft touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 7.30 am and the three-time African champions were immediately driven to their Eko Hotel abode, with a gym session in the evening to limber up ahead of a full training session beginning today at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The 2-0 victory in Tangier over the Lone Star meant the Eagles have won all their away matches in this qualifying series, and need only a draw against the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde tomorrow to progress into the final knockout round of the African series for Qatar 2022. They have scored two goals in each of the away games, with a 2-1 win over the Blue Sharks on the island of Mindelo and a 2-0 victory against the Central African Republic and Liberia in Douala and Tangier respectively.

Captain Ahmed Musa, who won a record 102nd senior cap for Nigeria after coming in as a substitute in Saturday’s triumph, said none of the players is thinking of a draw against the Sharks at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

“No one is thinking of a draw. It is a must-win match, as far as we are concerned. The mindset is to win and reach the final round of the World Cup series without any story.”

Victory or draw against the Sharks will send 12-pointer Eagles into the knockout round, with the visitors, who are on 10, needing to win at the Teslim Balogun to make progress at Nigeria’s expense.

Nigeria has participated in all FIFA World Cup final tournaments since its debut in 1994 in the United States of America, except the 2006 finals in Germany that she missed narrowly after FIFA opted to use the head-to-head rule in the qualifying campaign, which favored Angola.

Already, in-form Senegal as well as Egypt, Mali, Morocco, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have sailed into that final round, with African champions Algeria expected to have no trouble doing the same. One of Ghana’s Black Stars and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana will emerge from Group G Sunday night after their group’s final fixture in Cape Coast, with the home team needing a win, while the visitors need a draw.

Three other matches will produce the remaining two qualifiers. Five-time African champions, Cameroon are at home to Cote d’Ivoire’s Elephants in Yaounde tomorrow. The Lions, on 12 points, need a win while 13-pointer Elephants require only a draw.

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Tunisia hosts Zambia also tomorrow and would scale through with a draw as long as Equatorial Guinea, who shocked the Carthage Eagles on Saturday, does not pick all the points in Nouakchott against Mauritania. The Eagles and the Guineans are both on 10 points. Zambia, who victimized Mauritania 4-0 on Saturday to go to seven points, are also still in with a chance if they win well in Tunisia and Equatorial Guinea drop all points in Nouakchott.

The final round of the African qualifying series will hold in March 2022.