Nigeria’s senior men’s handball team, the Golden Arrows, secured a hard-fought 30–28 victory over Guinea on Thursday to keep their 2027 IHF World Championship aspirations alive. The high-stakes playoff semi-final at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, served as a crucial step in determining Africa’s final representative for next year’s tournament in Germany. Despite facing a significant tactical disadvantage after Faruk Yusuf received a first-half red card, the Nigerian squad displayed immense grit to manage the game with only six men for the majority of the duration.
The Golden Arrows showcased superior composure during the opening period, entering the halftime interval with a narrow 16–14 lead. Nigeria then successfully repelled a series of aggressive second-half surges from the Guinean side to maintain their two-goal cushion until the final whistle. Azeez Sulaiman dominated the court, netting eight goals to claim the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, while John Shagari provided vital offensive support by matching that eight-goal tally. This resilient performance ensures that Nigeria remains in contention for the continent’s fifth and final qualifying slot.
This victory officially sets up a winner-takes-all fifth-place final against Angola this Sunday, after the Southern Africans defeated Morocco 27–20 in their respective playoff. For the Golden Arrows, the stakes could not be higher; a win in the upcoming decider would secure Nigeria’s first World Championship appearance since 1999, ending a painful 26-year absence from the global stage. Having missed out on automatic qualification via the semi-finals, the team now focuses entirely on this one final hurdle to achieve a historic return to international prominence.
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