Former Super Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh has publicly backed interim boss Augustine Eguavoen to guide Nigeria toward 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, despite a tough group standing so far in the campaign.
Eguavoen has already steered the team to 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification during his interim spell in charge.
Softfootball gathered that Oliseh’s endorsement carries added weight given the pair’s shared history playing for the national team.
Speaking to News Central, Oliseh made his position clear:
Austin Eguavoen is a smart guy. He is not stupid. And I also want to say that he has my full support. He is somebody I struggled with, bringing glory to our fatherland. He is an honest and decent guy.
Nigeria currently sit four points off the pace in their World Cup qualifying group, without a win from four games so far.
Oliseh, however, drew on his own experience as captain during Nigeria’s 2002 qualifying campaign to argue the situation isn’t hopeless:
The task ahead is a difficult one, but it is not impossible. We had to do that in 2002 to go to the World Cup when I was captain. We were five points behind, and we had to really work hard.”
