Nigeria Vs Russia: Super Eagles Land Major Friendly Clash After AFCON Tests

Nigeria’s Super Eagles are set to face Russia in an international friendly on October 6 as part of preparations for their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the encounter will take place at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, providing head coach Eric Chelle and his players with another opportunity to measure their strength against European opposition.

The friendly is scheduled just one week after Nigeria’s second AFCON 2027 qualifying fixture against Guinea-Bissau in Bissau on September 29.

Before travelling to Guinea-Bissau, the Super Eagles will begin their qualifying campaign at home against Madagascar on September 25. The two competitive fixtures are expected to provide Chelle with valuable opportunities to assess his squad before the team turns its attention to the meeting with Russia.

The October encounter will also allow the coach to experiment with different tactical approaches and evaluate players ahead of the remaining matches in the qualifying campaign.

Nigeria and Russia have faced each other in a friendly in recent years, with both sides sharing the spoils in their previous meeting.

The last encounter between the two teams took place at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on June 6, 2025, ending in a 1-1 draw. Russia opened the scoring through an own goal by Nigerian defender Semi Ajayi in the first half before Tolu Arokodare equalised for the Super Eagles after the break.

The upcoming fixture will give both nations another opportunity to secure victory and claim bragging rights. Nigeria currently occupy 26th position in the FIFA world rankings, while Russia are ranked 35th.