Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi has appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience with the team, with the promise that they will do everything to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in USA/Canada/Mexico, Freelanews reports.

Iwobi and his teammates are off to a bad start in the African qualifying series with two points in their first two matches. They were held to an uninspiring 1-1 draw by Lesotho in Uyo last week before forcing another 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe at their adopted ground in Rwanda on Sunday.

Nigeria did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and following the Super Eagles’ lacklustre display in both games of the series, another World Cup is gradually eluding Nigerians.

Perhaps aware of the tongue-lashing that will come from the fans, Iwobi pleaded for patience after Sunday’s draw against Zimbabwe.

“Of course, it’s disappointing we should be able to get more points and more goals. We will not dwell on this; we will push and fight to the end to make sure we qualify.

“He already (the coach) said the travel was a lot for us. After the first game, we had to fly for four hours and another three hours. As players, we shouldn’t use that as an excuse and we have a lot of quality in the side. Like the coach said, the first half wasn’t good enough but the second was better so we have to look at that and see what we can do better to improve.

It’s just the beginning, I’ll urge the Nigerian fans to stick by us because we will continue to fight,” Iwobi said.

Before their next World Cup qualifying game against South Africa in June 2024, the Super Eagles will be at the 2023 AFCON which holds from January 13 to February 11 in Ivory Coast.