National Teams
2026 World Cup: Leslie Notsi reveals how Lesotho stunned Nigeria in Uyo
![](https://nigeriafootball.ng/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/lesotho.jpg)
By Wale Mustapha
Head Coach of Lesotho men’s national football team, Leslie Notsi has attributed his team’s ability to hold Nigeria to 1-1 in the opening 2026 World Cup qualifier to their self belief.
The Crocodiles were the underdogs heading to the match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Thursday but their performances were far cry from such as they claimed a point.
Notsi explained that his side was able to achieve the morale boosting result by refusing to focus on how to march their host with same strength.
“We are happy with this result, it will really boost the morale of the team going forward,” Notsi told NigeriaFootball.ng.
“We decided to focus on ourselves, played to our strength as we knew we can’t play as they (Nigeria) so we stayed calm absorb the pressure and hit them on the counter which I’m happy it worked for us.
“We hope to build on this and hope it gives us positives mood to approach subsequent games.”
Lesotho will be taking on Benin Republic next Tuesday in Durban South Africa while Nigeria will be guest to Zimbabwe in Kigali on Sunday.