Former Super Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh has warned that Nigeria cannot afford to miss out on qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Softfootball understands that Oliseh expressed his concerns over the Super Eagles’ poor start to the qualifying campaign, stressing that another failure to reach football’s biggest tournament would be a major setback for Nigerian football.
The Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after losing to Ghana on the away goals rule in the final qualifying round.
Their hopes of reaching the 2026 tournament have also suffered an early setback after failing to win any of their opening four qualifying matches.
Nigeria currently sit second from bottom in their qualification group with three points, leaving Augustine Eguavoen’s side with plenty of work to do in the remaining fixtures.
Speaking with SuperSport TV, Oliseh noted that Africa has more qualification slots available for the expanded 2026 World Cup, making it even more important for Nigeria to secure one of the places.
The former midfielder admitted it was painful to witness the 2022 World Cup in Qatar without the Super Eagles participating, revealing that he spent six weeks at the tournament as part of FIFA’s Technical Study Group.
Oliseh believes failing to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup would be disastrous for a country with Nigeria’s football pedigree and urged the team to turn their campaign around before it is too late.
