Nigeria’s road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is collapsing faster than an overwatered sandcastle.
Officially, there are still two games left to play. Mathematically, qualification is still possible. Realistically? Nigeria need divine intervention, a calculator, and probably VAR from heaven to stand any chance.
The Super Eagles sit third in Group C with a miserable 11 points from eight matches, behind Benin on 14 and South Africa, who sit pretty at the summit with 17. With two games left, Bafana Bafana look certain to cruise to qualification, while Benin are favourites to claim one of the best runners-up spots.
Nigeria’s path? Well, it’s the football equivalent of hoping your Uber driver somehow flies over gridlock traffic and lands you at your destination on time.
And yet, despite this looming national embarrassment, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) believes the real problem is… checks notes… William Troost-Ekong’s unfortunate own goal and Cyriel Dessers’ bad day at the office.
Yes, Nigeria’s football governing body has decided the World Cup dream is crumbling not because of months of incompetence, but because two men had the audacity to be human.
The scapegoating game
In a statement dripping with finger-pointing, the NFF declared of team captain Troost-Ekong:
“The Super Eagles’ fighting spirit was diminished for a period after team captain William Ekong inadvertently swept the ball into his own net in the 25th minute, wrong-footing Stanley Nwabali to give the Bafana the lead and great impetus.”
If that wasn’t enough, they took an even harsher swing at Dessers:
“Cyriel Dessers, who had an unimpressive game in Uyo where he turned out be a substitute that was substituted, did not have a better game as he was too slow to latch onto passes, could not win aerial balls and did little in bringing alive the Nigerian attack.”
Let’s be honest: Dessers was poor. Troost-Ekong’s own goal was clumsy. But here’s the problem: national football teams don’t miss back-to-back World Cups because one striker fluffed his lines or because a defender’s shin betrayed him. They miss out because their administrators are a walking circus.
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NFF, the architects of Nigeria’s failure
This mess started long before Bloemfontein.
Nigeria’s qualifying campaign began with limp draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe under José Peseiro. Any serious federation would have responded with urgency. The NFF? They let his contract run down like expired data.
Instead of hiring a top-class manager, they gave the keys to Finidi George, a newbie coach who only months earlier admitted he felt more suited to a youth job.
Predictably, he drowned. Nigeria drew with South Africa at home, then recorded their first-ever loss to Benin. That humiliation alone should have prompted resignations at Glass House, but instead, they doubled down on chaos.
The Bruno Labbadia farce followed, where the NFF “announced” the German as coach only for him to publicly deny ever signing. That shambles wasted valuable time, time a proper federation would have used to bed in a competent manager.
Instead, Augustine Eguavoen was parachuted in on an ‘interim’ basis for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Eguavoen, head of NFF’s Technical Department, was then shuffled aside for Eric Chelle, leaving the Super Eagles with four managers in 11 months.
To his credit, Chelle has actually stabilised the team with eight points from four games. Chelle may not work miracles, but at least he hasn’t embarrassed the badge like those before him.
NFF: Blame where it belongs
And so, here we are. Nigeria, blessed with Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, and a diaspora of talent, are staring at back-to-back missed World Cups. The first time since their debut in 1994.
But instead of owning up to their catastrophic mismanagement, the NFF has turned to its favourite survival tactic: scapegoating players.
It’s the oldest trick in the book. Divert public anger by flogging two fall guys, while the true culprits, the federation’s bungling officials, skulk behind their desks, polishing their failure into press releases.
The irony? Against South Africa, Nigeria actually played their best football of the World Cup qualifying campaign. They were bold, determined, and unlucky not to win.
Arokodare and Lookman came close. Bassey, of all people, got his first international goal. For once, there was commitment and cohesion.
But nuance is not the NFF’s strong suit. They saw an own goal, they saw a striker struggle, and they dusted off the whip.
A familiar playbook
Here’s how this script usually goes: Chelle will probably be sacked a few weeks before the 2025 AFCON which kicks off in December.
Eguavoen will be dragged out of storage as the trusted ‘interim coach.’ Nigeria will stumble through the tournament before the NFF resumes its annual global safari in search of a ‘world-class’ European manager who will eventually be set up to fail.
It’s a cycle Nigerians know too well. And yet, this time, fans must refuse to swallow the propaganda.
Troost-Ekong and Dessers did not sabotage Nigeria’s World Cup hopes. The NFF did.
From their amateur hiring process to their technical missteps, they have shown themselves incapable of stewarding one of Africa’s greatest footballing nations.
NFF, there exist an honourable exit
When qualification inevitably slips away, the honourable move is simple: resign.
NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, Eguavoen, Victor Ikpeba, the Technical Department — all of them should step aside. It won’t erase the shame, but it will at least signal accountability.
Because if Nigeria misses back-to-back World Cups, it is not on Dessers. It is not on Troost-Ekong. It is not even on Chelle. The buck stops squarely with the NFF.
Until then, Nigerians should brace themselves. Not for the World Cup (forget that) but for the inevitable spin cycle, where failure is dressed up as progress and scapegoats are served on a platter. After all, this is the NFF’s playbook. And they never miss their cue.