The Super Eagles are set to be drawn in a potential group of death in next year's Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria's Super Eagles face the prospect of playing one of Africa's biggest nations in the group stage of next year's AFCON.
The Super Eagles rounded up their qualifying campaign with a 6-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe to finish top of their group with five wins out of six.
Nigeria to miss out on AFCON top seed
The three-time African champions are one of the favourites for the competition next year, but they face a difficult path if they are to win their fourth AFCON title.
Although the draw for the competition is still weeks away, the Super Eagles are facing a potential group of death as they are set to be in pot two.
African football governing body, CAF, will use the FIFA rankings to determine the top seeds for the six groups.
While Nigeria are among the top six teams in Africa in the latest FIFA rankings, the Super Eagles are set to be omitted from the top seed pots ahead of the AFCON draws.
This is because hosts Ivory Coast are currently ranked outside the top six and have to be seeded in pot one.
As a result, the sixth-ranked team on the continent, which is the Super Eagles, will have to drop into Pot Two when draws are conducted.
Nigeria facing a potential group of death at the AFCON
Currently, Pot One has Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Ivory Coast as the hosts. Nigeria are ranked sixth in Africa but will be in Pot Two alongside Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and South Africa.
Pot Three has teams like The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cape Verde, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritania. Pot Four consists of Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Gabon and Tanzania.
It means Nigeria could face hosts Ivory Coast or any of the teams in Pot One, DRC or Cape Verde in Pot Three and Angola or Gabon in Pot Four in what could be a potential group of death.
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