{"id":105670,"date":"2025-03-06T09:05:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T07:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier"},"modified":"2025-03-11T00:45:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T22:45:00","slug":"michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier","title":{"rendered":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later this month in Uyo.<\/p>\n<p>The Warriors, who are currently bottom in Group C, will play against the Super Eagles on March 25 in Uyo as the World Cup qualification continues.<\/p>\n<p>Nees knows the Warriors have a tough task ahead to get back into the race but insists it is still possible. He said:<\/p>\n<p>Like us, Nigeria have their back against the wall; they are like wounded lions who want to turn the page (after a poor start to the qualifiers). It will be an exciting game, and Nigeria are beatable in Uyo.<\/p>\n<p>When the two teams met in November 2023, they played to a 1-1 draw in Huye, Rwanda.<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria are currently fifth in Group C with three points from four matches, while Zimbabwe are at the bottom with two points.<\/p>\n<p>Since their last meeting, both teams have changed coaches.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Nees was not in charge when the Warriors started their World Cup qualification campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Brazilian coach Baltemar Britto led the Warriors during the matches in Rwanda, before Jairos Tapera, coach of Manica Diamonds, took over for the games against South Africa and Lesotho.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later this month in Uyo. The Warriors, who are currently bottom in Group C, will play against the Super Eagles on March 25 in Uyo as the World Cup qualification continues. Nees knows the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":105669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[17953,15582,17144,603,1711,16324,19],"class_list":["post-105670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-2026-caf-world-cup-qualifiers","tag-2026-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers","tag-michael-nees","tag-nigeria","tag-super-eagles","tag-super-eagles-of-nigeria","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-06T07:05:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-10T22:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1309\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\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:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-06T07:05:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-10T22:45:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\"},\"wordCount\":224,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2026 CAF World Cup Qualifiers\",\"2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers\",\"Michael Nees\",\"Nigeria\",\"Super Eagles\",\"Super Eagles of Nigeria\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\",\"name\":\"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier - zimbabwe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-06T07:05:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-10T22:45:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg\",\"width\":1556,\"height\":1309,\"caption\":\"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/\",\"name\":\"zimbabwe\",\"description\":\"\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u064a\u0648\u0645\u064a\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0639\u0629\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier - zimbabwe","description":"Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier","og_description":"Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier","og_site_name":"zimbabwe","article_published_time":"2025-03-06T07:05:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-10T22:45:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1556,"height":1309,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier","datePublished":"2025-03-06T07:05:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-10T22:45:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier"},"wordCount":224,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg","keywords":["2026 CAF World Cup Qualifiers","2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers","Michael Nees","Nigeria","Super Eagles","Super Eagles of Nigeria","Zimbabwe"],"articleSection":["all news","community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier","name":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier - zimbabwe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-06T07:05:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-10T22:45:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Warriors coach Michael Nees believes Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles can be beaten ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier later ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741240881.380551.jpg","width":1556,"height":1309,"caption":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/michael-nees-confident-zimbabwe-can-beat-nigeria-in-2026-world-cup-qualifier#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michael Nees Confident Zimbabwe Can Beat Nigeria In 2026 World Cup Qualifier"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/","name":"zimbabwe","description":"\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u064a\u0648\u0645\u064a\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0639\u0629","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}