Alex Iwobi has said he fancies Nigeria reaching the Fifa World Cup finals in Russia in two years time despite being pooled in "a tough group" in the African qualification series.
Nigeria's Super Eagles have been drawn against Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia but Iwobi is unfazed by the pedigree of the other contenders in their group though he acknowledged that his countrymen will come up against nations that are former winners of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
The Arsenal man believes that Nigeria can win their World Cup qualifying group considering the talent in their setup and through good preparation and focus.
“It is a tough group for sure, but I don’t think there are any easy groups - it’s international level competition. I’m confident we can prevail, we definitely have the players to. If we prepare well, focus and play to the best of our ability I’m sure we will qualify. “All the teams [in the group] are good teams that have been former AFCON winners, and have players playing at the highest level, so we know we’ll be up against well-prepared teams,” said Iwobi to Fifa.com.
The 20-year-old, who can play as a striker or as a winger, still remains "gutted" that his country will take no part in the 2017 Afcon in Gabon.
He now feels that the Nigerian squad can make amends in the World Cup qualification for their failure to reach the African tournament after they were edged out by Egypt.
“The Nations Cup is the biggest sporting tournament in Africa, so we were gutted. But as a team we have to look forward and focus on the World Cup and our qualification matches,” Iwobi said.
Iwobi having played for England at Under-16, 17 and 18 levels, opted to play for Nigeria at senior internationals. He made his international debut for the West African nation in a 0-2 defeat in a tune-up game against DR Congo.
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