Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro has attributed Nigeria’s 1-1 draw against the Crocodiles of Lesotho to bad luck.

Fans of Nigerian football were left furious after the team’s disappointing draw at the Godswil Akpabio stadium in the first game of the 2026 African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

West Brom defender Semi Ajayi scored the equalizer from a corner after Lesotho took the lead in the 56th minute through Motlomelo Mkhwanazi.

Speaking after the game, Peseiro himself blamed bad luck for the draw.

His words: “I am sad, of course, disappointed by the result, but my team tried to do the maximum,” he said.

“We had 76% of the ball possession against 24%; the opponents only had two chances to score and scored a goal.

“We had many chances to score. It was bad luck.”

Meanwhile, former Super Eagle defender Ifeanyi Udeze said he was enraged by the “unacceptable” result.

“This was our first World Cup qualifier in front of the home fans, and we couldn’t beat Lesotho.

“This was a match not against Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, or Ghana. This was a loss.”

Former Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, in a post on X on Friday, described the game as ‘national emabrassment.’

His words: “Haba This nightmare go ever end? Woke up to this shocker this morning. Our homebased suppose dey beat Lesotho na! dem even first us score!!!! The painful part be say, no consequences for these national embarrassments sef!”

Nigeria will play their second qualifying game against Zimbabwe on Sunday. The Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.