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NPFL@30: DEFENDING CHAMPIONS WHO WENT DOWN
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Stationery Stores, Shooting Stars and Bayelsa United have something in common. They were champions of the Nigeria professional League who were relegated the season following their victories.
First to swallow the bitter pills were Lagos crowd-pullers, Stationery Stores. They went down in 1993 as the Professional League defending champions owing to off-the-pitch events.
They were relegated due to failure to complete their fixtures, not because they finished on a relegation spot.
Based on experience of Season 1992 when some teams did not honour their fixtures, the NFA introduced a new law which confined into relegation any team that failed to honour two away matches.
Stores failed to play their away games against Sharks and Udoji United. Despite finishing in the fifth position in a 16-team log, Stores dropped from the elite division along with the bottom-placed Calabar Rovers and Lagos ACB.
Next to experience the bitter taste are the Shooting Stars who had their second title in 1998 after a previous one in 1995.
For Shooting Stars, Nigeria’s flag bearers in the 1999 CAF Champions League, it was perhaps one of the darkest moments for the once glamorous side and pacesetters of Nigeria’s continental adventures.
They were the first Nigerian side to win any continental trophy when they lifted the African Winners Cup in 1976 and the inaugural Abiola CAF Cup in 1992.
The Shooting Stars were plagued by financial problems from the Week Two of the 34-week series.
Having assembled some of the best available domestic materials for the league, the Shooting Stars soon found out that they did not have enough financial resources to back their purchases.
The players who opened the season with an away win over Eagle Cement, the 1997 champions, had to boycott a home game against Enyimba to press their demand for unpaid sign-on fees, salaries and bonuses.
The management of the club was sacked and a sole administrator, Chief Olufemi Olukanmi, who guided the club to CAF Cup victory in 1992, was appointed.
He met empty coffers and daunting debt totalling close to N25 million. The financial burden leading to players’ boycott of training was responsible for the club’s home loss to Al Ahly in the Champions League.
The dream of the club’s sole administrator, Olukanmi, to turn the Shooting Stars to “Manchester United” of Africa had remained a mirage. But Olukanmi insisted his vision was clear, claiming that even the famous Manchester United were once relegated in the English League.
Joining the Shooting Stars in the relegation train were the 1997 champions, Eagle Cement, along with Kano Pillars and El Kanemi who were also relegated.
The 2009/2010 Season brought back the memories of 1999 season as the defending champions were not just dethroned, but also relegated to the lower division.
Just as the Shooting Stars experienced in 1999, so did Bayelsa United who went down just a season after winning the title and competing in the CAF Champions League.
A 2-0 loss to Kaduna United on the last day of the league sent Bayelsa, the defending champions into relegation. They went down with Gateway of Abeokuta, Ranchers Bees of Kaduna and Wikki Tourists.
But on the other end, Enyimba set a new record, becoming the first Nigerian club to win the domestic league six times as they edged out close rivals, Kano Pillars.
By Kunle Solaja, MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez etched his name into FIFA World Cup history on Sunday after becoming only the sixth player ever to be sent off in a World Cup final.
Fernandez was shown a straight red card in the third minute of added time during Argentina’s final against Spain after a reckless challenge on Spanish defender Pau Cubarsí. The dismissal came after the Argentine had earlier been booked for simulation, capping a frustrating evening for the midfielder.
His red card also means Argentina have now produced two players who have been sent off in World Cup finals, more than any other nation.
Sports Village Square recalls that the first-ever red card in a FIFA World Cup final was issued to Argentina’s Pedro Monzón during the 1990 final against West Germany at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Monzón was dismissed as Argentina went on to lose 1-0. In the same match, teammate Gustavo Dezotti was also sent off, making it the only World Cup final to feature two expulsions from the same team.
Fernandez now joins an exclusive and unwanted list of players dismissed in football’s biggest match.
The players sent off in FIFA World Cup finals are:
- Pedro Monzón (Argentina) vs West Germany, 1990
- Gustavo Dezotti (Argentina) vs West Germany, 1990
- Marcel Desailly (France) vs Brazil, 1998
- Zinedine Zidane (France) vs Italy, 2006
- John Heitinga (Netherlands) vs Spain, 2010
- Enzo Fernandez (Argentina) vs Spain, 2026
History has rarely been kind to teams reduced to 10 men in the World Cup final. Except France in 1998, when Marcel Desailly was dismissed late in a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Brazil, every team that has had a player sent off in the final has ended up on the losing side.
Fernandez’s dismissal therefore added another chapter to one of the tournament’s most exclusive and unfortunate records, reinforcing the trend that a red card in the World Cup final has almost always been accompanied by defeat.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK
Africa emerged as the most successful confederation in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with an unprecedented 90 percent of its representatives advancing to the Round of 32.
Nine of the 10 African teams that started the tournament secured places in the knockout phase, giving the Confederation of African Football (CAF) the highest qualification rate among all six continental confederations.
The African nations progressing to the Round of 32 are South Africa, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Senegal, Egypt, Ghana, DR Congo and Algeria.
Only one African team failed to survive the group stage, underscoring the continent’s growing competitiveness on football’s biggest stage.
CAF’s 90 per cent success rate placed it ahead of South America’s CONMEBOL, which saw 83.33 per cent of its teams advance, and Europe’s UEFA, whose members recorded an 81.25 per cent qualification rate.
The figures represent a significant shift in the global football landscape, where European and South American nations have traditionally dominated World Cup competitions.
The expanded 48-team format appears to have provided African countries with greater opportunities to showcase their progress, and they responded with a series of impressive performances throughout the group stage.
Cape Verde emerged as one of the tournament’s surprise packages by reaching the knockout rounds for the first time, while South Africa, DR Congo and Algeria also celebrated historic advances.
Senegal made history by becoming the first African nation to score five goals in a World Cup match, while Morocco continued the momentum generated by their remarkable semi-final run at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
In contrast, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) endured a difficult campaign, with only 22.22 per cent of its teams progressing. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) recorded a 50 per cent qualification rate despite having the advantage of three host nations.
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) failed to place any team in the Round of 32.
World Cup Round of 32 Qualification Rates by Confederation
- CAF (Africa): 90%
- CONMEBOL (South America): 83.33%
- UEFA (Europe): 81.25%
- CONCACAF (North and Central America/Caribbean): 50%
- AFC (Asia): 22.22%
- OFC (Oceania): 0%
The statistics show Africa’s growing influence in world football and raise hopes that the continent could produce its strongest collective performance ever in the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup.
With nine teams still in contention, Africa enters the Round of 32 with more representatives than any other confederation and a genuine opportunity to challenge for the latter stages of the tournament.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK.
Ecuador will look to continue their strong record against Concacaf opposition when they face Curaçao in a Group E encounter at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The South Americans enter the match having won their last two World Cup meetings with teams from the Concacaf region and will be eager to maintain that trend as they chase a place in the knockout rounds.
For Curaçao, however, the fixture represents an opportunity to create history.
The Caribbean nation is one of the tournament’s debutants and is still searching for its first World Cup victory. After suffering a heavy defeat to Germany in their opening match, Curaçao will be desperate to demonstrate the resilience and determination that earned them a place at the expanded 48-team tournament.
A victory would make them the first of the World Cup 2026 newcomers to register a win and would provide a significant boost to their qualification hopes.
Ecuador are expected to rely on their experience at this level, but they know underestimating Curaçao could prove costly. The underdogs have already shown flashes of attacking quality despite their difficult introduction against Germany.
As the group stage begins to take shape, both teams understand the importance of securing points. Ecuador are chasing progression, while Curaçao are chasing history.
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