Nigeria Football Federation confirms Nigeria friendly with Saudi Arabia 

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed a friendly match with the Asian side, Saudi Arabia for the Nigeria senior national team during the next FIFA window.

The next window will see the Super Eagles starting their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign against Lesotho after clinching the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification.

Within the same FIFA window in November, the Eagles will play their second match of the qualification series, away to the Warriors of Zimbabwe.

The friendly match with Saudi Arabia will take place in the city of Portimão, Portugal on Friday, 13th October 2023.

The nine-time African champions thrashed Sao Tome and Principe 6-0 to complete the Qualifiers on Sunday.

Nigeria’s clash with Saudi Arabia will be the first encounter between both sides at the senior national team level.

The most remarkable clash between both countries remains the opening match of the FIFA U20 World Cup (then known as FIFA World Youth Championship) in 1989, in which second-half goals Christopher Ohenhen and Mutiu Adepoju steered Nigeria to a comeback 2-1 victory over the host nation in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia stunned champions, Argentina 2-1 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, while Nigeria didn’t qualify for the tournament thanks to away goal rule against Ghana in the final stage of the qualifiers.