BY TONY UBANI

VETERAN sports Journalists have expressed worry over the chances of the Super Eagles qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be jointly hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico. Their worry stems from the fact that the Super Eagles chances of qualifying is hanging on a thread.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, losing on away goals to Ghana in the play-offs. They are also dangerously placed second- to-last in their Group C with three points of a possible 12 points having played four of their five group opponents, leaving them six matches to determine their fate.

The Super Eagles must now win all six of their remaining games to guarantee themselves a chance to qualify for the World Cup but based on their previous performances, that is as wishful as thinking gets. It is time for the recriminations to begin as the once-feared giants of African football are now whimpering their way out of a place. We spoke to top sports Journalists on the chances of the Eagles, the actions and inactions of the NFF on appointing an unknown coach and the coming of the Presidential Support Group, PSG for the World Cup.

Why it may not be possible — Onochie Anibeze

To win the remaining six matches? It is possible but I have my fears. Miracles happen but I doubt if one will lead us to the next World Cup. The appointment of Chelle appears to have compounded issues but our problems didn’t start from that appointment. It took so long to appoint Finidi and when they did immediate actions were not taken to present a strong team in the two matches he played.

Finidi should have gone to Europe to meet the players and tell them individually about his philosophy and approach. He should have fired up the players. He should have known the team that he would present before the match based on his thoughts while monitoring the players in their various clubs. Coming to camp and testing players, assessing them three or four days before a big qualifier is poor planning. In qualifiers, a coach should always have a good picture of his team before assembling.

The training sessions before a  match should  centre on tactical execution of  his game plan  and not to start  assessing his  players to know  who is fit or not. That  should be known before assembling the players. It is only when you’re preparing for tournaments that you have about three or four weeks to train that you can have time to test players in camp. This leads me to the question of a technical back up team whose job is to advise the coach on technical and tactical matters.

It is usually left for the coach to consider or reject some or all the recommendations of the technical back up team. Was Finidi supported with a technical back-up team? They have such a structure in football nations but I don’t know why we have not emulated that. When Austin Eguavoen played goalless draw in Ghana for the Qatar World Cup and made up to five changes in the second leg he committed a big blunder considering the weather factor in sports.

The boys who played in Accra would have adapted better to the heat of Abuja. He needed tactical change and maybe one or two players and not five. Was there any technical back-up team to guide Eguavoen? No. Will Chelle have one? I don’t know. The biggest problem Nigeria has is that those around the national team lack knowledge of modern football and that’s why I doubt we will be in the next World Cup in spite of the fact that after the USA ‘94 and France ‘98 squads we have never had it so good with the quality of our individual players we have now. Making them a collective unit has always been the problem. I don’t see that changing overnight with Chelle. I pray it turns out otherwise.

The odds are against us — Dr Mumini Alao

AS things stand in our World Cup group, qualification is out of our hands because, even if we win our six remaining matches, still we need some other results to be in our favour. To be candid, the odds are against us. Having said that, nothing is impossible in football, so we can’t write our chances off pre- maturely. Despite the odds, we must remain positive and believe that we can qualify, then work hard towards achieving the objective.

A Presidential Support Group is not a bad idea. A similar group was set up before we qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. But the truth is that our fate lies at the feet of our players. The Support Group will probably provide additional motivation for the team in terms of rewards. But the players have to do the business on the pitch. Our players must be ready to fight for the World Cup ticket.

Other countries on the continent have improved tremendously. They do not fear the Super Eagles any more. If Nigeria desires to go to the next World Cup, our players have to fight very hard for it.

Deliberately, I have not mentioned the officials of the Football Federation nor the coach. Yes, the officials and the coach have roles to play, but the primary actors are the players. It is their attitude and determination, or a lack of it, that will determine the out- come of our qualifying campaign. 

Why do we need to qualify for the World Cup? — Ikeddy Isiguzo

Why do we need to qualify for the World Cup? Who would be the people to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup? This NFF, which is as illegal as the so-called National Sports Commission, which it permanently wrestles with for control of football?

You mean you do not know the purpose of the Presidential Support Group, PSG? How does PSG qualify a country for the World Cup?I thought they just hired a foreign coach? Are you no longer confident that he would qualify the team? PSG can also mean Prayer Support Group. Or don’t we need prayers?

We’re in a cliff-hanging situation — Dr Mitchel Obi

The dream is to always qualify for the World Cup. It is not new. It has always been a dream. We have the players who can do this. We first qualified for the World Cup in 1994. Going to the World Cup is not a novelty. It seems our World Cup campaign has been compromised. We’re behind a group of three leaders. If you beat one, you still look aside to see if others are coming. We’re in a cliff-hanging situation. But we can’t afford to falter.

I’m befuddled why Nigerians will decide to back a foreigner or give him support. Why do we take a risk with one who has nothing to lose?

The support would have been super if it were to be an indigenous coach. If we qualify, we celebrate and know we did this together. And if we fail, we rue the pain together. With this man, he has nothing to lose. Anyway, it’s a hard road to travel. With African games, you can never be sure of any game. We’re in a game and have to behave like gamblers.

The big question is, can we be sure of our home games? The first game is an away game to Rwanda in March. “Beware The Ides of March”.

We have to show seriousness and take care of the players. Their bonuses should be paid at once.

We’re entering the month of love and should show them love. After that, we enter the month of March where we hope to keep marching on.

I don’t have the third eye. Six is not an easy number to overcome. Who do you chase? The big question is can we be totally galvanised?

Experience over time has shown that there could be banana peels on the way. We have to be optimistic. There’s a flicker of hope. If we fail, we can go through the backdoor. The play-off. That is if we finish second in our group.

After all, we love celebrating the second position and giving them national awards. The truth is that after the first two games, our hearts can see clearly.

If we don’t qualify, someone must be held accountable — Sani Zaria

What we ought to have been talking by now is teams to accompany Nigeria in world show piece even with just four matches played so far.

But because of the class character of the Nigerian state and the inept football administrative system we are now subjected to serious academic gymnastics trying to find out whether Nigeria will qualify for the World Cup or not. And in between Nigeria and the qualification are Benin, Rwanda, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa whose pedigree cannot match Nigeria’s in football.

Coming to specifics, we have six matches to play and the only sure guarantee for qualification is to win them all.

But can we? Yes we can. And we don’t have to win all. Only four points separate Nigeria and group leaders Rwanda.

We have the best African players in Europe and that personality may work for us in the end. We shall be there. But if for any reason we are not, then someone must be held accountable.

Difficult for Nigeria to qualify, but it is not impossible — Kunle Solaja

As of today, Monday 27 January, it is exactly 500 days to the kick-off of the 2026 World Cup.

It certainly looks difficult for Nigeria to qualify, but it is not impossible. The sure way of getting a direct qualification is for the Super Eagles to win their remaining six matches.

It looks herculean, but the mountain is surmountable.Winning the remaining six matches translates to each of the other teams losing a match to Nigeria.

Nigeria could not have wished for a better group when the draw was made. In the FIFA ranking, none of the five teams in Group C of the qualifying series move near Nigeria. But a simple arithmetic has turned into a Greek Puzzle.

The NFF takes responsibility as they allowed the Super Eagles camp in Nigeria to be turned into a holiday resort as all sorts of social media content providers, invade the camps and ask irrelevant questions from the players.

Can you imagine seeing such people in Argentina or England camp?

The camp is so relaxed that players lose focus and concentration. Such would not have happened at their clubs in Europe.

For any dream of qualification for the World Cup, the orientation of the players has to change.

With the array of players that the team parades, the Super Eagles should not just be a serial winner, but a high-scoring side.

Save for the mauling of Sao Tome & Principe in the qualifiers for the AFCON 2023, the 2-0 defeat of Cameroon and the 3-0 against Benin last September, when last has the team won a match by more than a goal margin since 2022?

Going into the remaining matches of the World Cup qualifiers, if Nigeria can take the full points in the two encounters with Rwanda, the Super Eagles will climb up the ladder and surmount the current group leaders.

The two matches in March are crucial. Win away against Rwanda and do the same against Zimbabwe at home.

Goal-scoring is crucial as it might end up as the eventual tiebreaker in the group. So far, the team has not scored more than a goal in any match of the series and is currently in goal deficit.

If Nigeria take revenge against Rwanda for the home defeat inflicted on the Super Eagles on the last game for the AFCON 2025, that will be the beginning of the turning around.

Where direct qualification as group leader becomes impossible, the Super Eagles should at least place second with high points to rank among the four best runners-up in the nine groups and proceed to the lengthy playoff series. 

–Vanguard

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