Akor Adams scored in the 94th minute to give the Super Eagles a 3-3 draw with Russia in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday, completing a comeback from 3-1 down in front of 40,126 spectators. The Russia 3-3 Nigeria result came a week after the 3-0 defeat in Guinea-Bissau, and it was achieved with a squad of only 19 players after injuries and club refusals stripped Eric Chelle of several regulars.
International friendly
Full time
- Lechi Sadulaev 30'
- Matvei Kislyak 45+2'
- Aleksei Miranchuk 54'
- Kelechi Iheanacho 10'
- Peter Edokpolor 78'
- Akor Adams 90+4'
Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod · Tuesday 6 October 2026
Kelechi Iheanacho put Nigeria ahead after 10 minutes, finishing with the visitors’ first attempt on target on his first Super Eagles appearance in about a year. Russia, who had beaten Iran 2-0 and Namibia 6-0 earlier in the window, levelled through Lechi Sadulaev on the half-hour and went in front when Matvei Kislyak scored two minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Two goals from the bench turned a third straight beating into a draw
Aleksei Miranchuk made it 3-1 nine minutes after the restart, and for a while it looked as if Nigeria were heading for a second heavy defeat in a week. Chelle’s changes changed the game. Benfica forward Peter Edokpolor, who wasn’t in the starting line-up, pulled a goal back in the 78th minute, and Adams, another replacement, struck deep into added time to deny Valery Karpin’s side a fifth win in six games.
Chelle started Samuel James in goal behind a back four of Aderemi Adeoye, Abdullahi Bewene, Emmanuel Fernandez and Benjamin Fredricks, with Igor Wilfred, Stephen Michael and Chibuzo Nwoko in midfield and Isaac James, Moses Simon and Iheanacho further forward. Adeoye’s start meant the Ikorodu City midfielder became one of the home-based players handed a real opportunity, a scenario we flagged when we listed the Super Eagles players in camp for Russia.
The defence is still the problem Chelle has to solve before Tanzania
The fightback will lift the mood, but Nigeria have now conceded six goals in two games. Russia scored three times inside 24 minutes either side of the break, and a back line that had shipped three in Bissau once again struggled when Sadulaev, Aleksandr Sobolev and Miranchuk ran at it. Chelle was without captain Wilfred Ndidi, Raphael Onyedika and Victory Akpe, so a makeshift spine was always going to be tested, yet the frailty is now a pattern rather than a one-off.
The positives sit in attack. Iheanacho’s early goal backed up his recall, and Edokpolor and Adams both scored after coming on, which gives Chelle more options with Victor Osimhen injured. The result also counts towards the FIFA rankings, and avoiding defeat away to a side ranked below Nigeria protects the Super Eagles’ position.
What the Russia 3-3 Nigeria draw means for the AFCON 2027 push
Friendlies carry no points, and the job that matters is still the two qualifiers against Tanzania. Guinea-Bissau’s win in Bissau left Nigeria three points behind the Djurtus, so, as we explained in our breakdown of what the Super Eagles need for AFCON 2027, anything less than two wins would leave qualification out of their hands.
Tuesday’s draw is only the second senior meeting between the two countries, after the 1-1 at the Luzhniki Stadium in June 2025, and both games have now ended level. Updates on the squad’s return and the Tanzania preparations will come through the Nigeria Football Federation, and Chelle will hope the character shown in the final 15 minutes in Nizhny Novgorod carries into those two games rather than the defending that put Nigeria 3-1 down.
