This is not the best of times for Nigerian football following the Super Eagles unimpressive start in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers under Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro. The three-time African champions had to come from behind to force both Lesotho and Zimbabwe to an identical 1-1 draw to the chagrin of Nigerians. Now in third place behind Rwanda and South Africa in a tricky Group C, notable Nigerian football personalities argued that the Portuguese coach had nothing to offer even as they point the way forward the Super Eagles in their quest to return to the Mundial after missing in action at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. OLALEKAN OKUSAN and TUNDE LIADI gauge the views of concerned football buffs.
That Nigeria’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup is already hanging in the balance is an obvious fact as many football fans are yet to come to terms with the fact that Jose Peseiro’s side managed only two draws in their first two qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Despite assembling a squad made up of foreign legions against teams that are mainly local-based, the Super Eagles failed to shine and there faint-hearted performance did not go down well with generality of Nigerians calling for the sack of Peseiro who they said has not changed the fortunes of the team since the exit of Franco-German Gernot Rohr.
Writing on his weekly column in a daily, former captain of the team Segun Odegbami lamented the struggle of the team against minnow like Lesotho.
“The Super Eagles of Nigeria played against the Crocodiles of Lesotho. Ordinarily that should not take centre stage in any sports conversation this weekend, beyond reporting the anticipated ‘massacre’ of the minnows from the Southern part of Africa. The sad story is that Nigeria ‘lost’ the match. Struggling to get a ‘draw’ in a match played on home ground, on the superb turf of the best football ground in Nigeria, the Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, must be counted as a ‘loss’,” he said.
Odegbami amongst other things particularly picked holes in the goalkeeping area of the team.
“The result of the match and the presence of a particular player in the team’s line-up interest me. Some two or more weeks before the match, the main discussion on several football platforms was on what was considered the ‘weakest link’ in the Super Eagles team – goalkeeping. Nigeria’s first choice these past few years, Francis Uzoho’s scorecard has not been very flattering. He may have recorded several heroics but the few gaffs, costly mistakes at crucial times, ‘speak’ louder.”
Luckily, the Bafana Bafana of South Africa’s shock away loss to Rwanda has offered the Super Eagles the chance to bounce back to reckoning when the 2026 World Cup qualifiers resume next year and for Nigeria international goalkeeper, Peter Rufai said the Super Eagles can pull their chestnut from the fire.
“The Super Eagles can still surprise us. Football is a crazy sport. I believe they can still turn things around and make Nigerians happy,” the 60-year-old, who was Nigeria’s goalie at the 1994 and 1998 World Cup finals, told NationSport. “It’s not a disaster yet. I expect the team to turn it around and qualify for the World Cup.”
Nigeria are now third in the Group C table, two points off surprise leaders Rwanda, who defeated South Africa 2-0 in another Matchday Two encounter.
The Super Eagles missed out on a ticket to the 2022 World Cup following a play-off defeat by West African rivals Ghana on away goals.
Peseiro and his team now have several issues to resolve as attention turns to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which begins on 13 January next year before the World Cup qualifiers resume in June.
All the six teams in Group C are separated by just one three points after two games. Nigeria host South Africa and travel to Benin in their next two qualifiers next June
Since taking over from Austin Eguavoen in 2022, Peseiro has won six and lost six of his 15 matches in the dugout.
His side has scored 31 times – with 10 coming in one game against Sao Tome & Principe – and they have conceded 21 goals.
The Portuguese oversaw Nigeria’s qualification for the Nations Cup, with their only points dropped coming in a home defeat by Guinea-Bissau; though they avenged the loss in the next game between both teams some days later.
Yet after falling behind against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, former Super Eagles stars Garba Lawal and Bob Osim believe that Group C is still open for Eagles to make it even as they urged the team to raise their game in their next matches.
“I believe the Eagles can recover from the slow start as the group is opening,” Lawal, a midfield Trojan in his heyday said matter-of-factly. “If they are ready to do it, they can do it because nobody believes Rwanda can beat South Africa and Eagles have one of the best attacks in Africa.
“I believe the Super Eagles can do it but they just need to raise their game as the group is still open.”
Osim, on the other hand, said that the Eagles should not be ruled out of contention for the automatic slot in Group C.
“To qualify from the group, depend solely on the boys and I believe it is not over yet as the Eagles can still clinch the ticket,” Osim, the former Enyimba defender and current coach of Calabar (UNICEM) Rovers said. “Let us forget about the last two matches and forge ahead to win their next matches. They just need to understand themselves as a team by working extra hard and the group is still open.”
However, another former Nigeria international defender, Ifeanyi Udeze, lamented that Nigeria is now struggling against minnows in Africa.
“Are we supposed to be happy that the group is open when we cannot even beat Lesotho and Zimbabwe?” he asked rhetorically.
He added: “ It is a shame that we were considered as a giant of Africa, and we are happy that we have to rely on other teams to win to be thinking of qualifying. What our players need to do is to just ensure they win all their next matches especially, the match against South Africa. It is a must win for us and our players must try to win all their next matches both home and away.”
Yet others argued that given the fact that the squad boasts potent firepower such as Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface of Bayer Leverkusen, Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest and Ademola Lookman, who now plays in Serie A for Atalanta, the Super Eagles should be a handful for teams like Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Former Super Eagle Duke Udi, who featured in qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup, said the technical crew must blend all parts of the team to work together and not just focus on the attacking quality.
“If any department is not functioning then it is the problem of the team because everyone has to work together,” he said in an interview. “It’s too early to sack a coach because he drew two matches; he has not lost.
“We are still on course for both competitions (the World Cup and Nations Cup). In Ivory Coast, anything can happen,” the former midfielder added.
But former captain and coach of the Super Eagles, Austine Eguavoen, has urged the team to change their mindset and character.
“Change in character and mentality matter a lot. We should approach every game like a final game, and we have all it takes to qualify. We must change our mindset against every team. Mindset and character matter for the team because I believe in this team,” he said.
Another area of the team which has received the most widespread criticism is the goalkeeping where Francis Uzoho has struggled to inspire confidence as the fans pilloried him for some of the team’s poor results in recent matches.
Peseiro gave his backing to the 25-year-old after two friendlies last month but Uzoho deactivated his social media account after the 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe on Sunday, where he was beaten by Walter Musona’s stunning long-range free-kick.
Fellow keeper Maduka Okoye also came under similar scrutiny after Nigeria’s quarter-final exit from the 2021 Nations Cup, a 1-0 defeat by Tunisia.
Rufai expressed his concerns about the quality of goalkeepers available for the Eagles but he said for things to work out well there is urgent need for a collective response from the team.
“Yes, we have a goalkeeping problem, but it’s not that we don’t have quality goalkeepers,” Rufai said.”They need to be courageous, they must be strong and not let the criticisms demoralise them. The entire team should rise up to the occasion.”
But Emeka Amadi, former Flying Eagles goalkeeper, wants the fans to rally round the team and forget about the draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
“Let us all motivate the team as they need our support and this will surely raise their morale in the next matches,” he said.
For Peter Nieketien, the team lacks a leader that can inspire them: “Among the present team there are no mature players in the team to motivate the players. The team lacked matured leaders that can motivate and inspire the team. So, they need someone like Ahmed Musa who is experienced to inspire the team.”
Also, Etim Esin, charged the players to be hungry to make it to the World Cup having missed the last edition in Qatar. “We did not qualify for the last World Cup and some of them are still young, and they must be hungry to play at the World Cup because this is the dream of every player.”
Despite the call for the sack of Peseiro, an executive committee member of NFF Nse Essien has come out to state that the federation cannot afford to offset the payoff of the coach if he is sacked.
“If you check the internet almost everyone is asking for the sack of the head coach,” Essien said in a video posted on X. “It’s unfortunate that out of six points we have just two and we find ourselves in a very precarious situation.
“When people say NFF should sack the head coach, we didn’t employ him, if you look at it, the Sports Ministry employed him and we were supposed to have paid their salaries but up till now they’ve not paid a dime.
“If you sack the coach now, who pays for compensation? So that’s where we find ourselves. Not a dime has been paid to this coach who is earning about $70,000 every month.
“We have to respect his contract but if we have the money to give to him we are definitely going to relieve him, we are not happy,” Essien said.
But in defense of their performance, Fulham of England star and a key member of the team Alex Iwobi, has pleaded with football fans not to give up on Eagles yet but continue to offer their support.
He however, expressed disappointment with the inability of Super Eagles to pick all three points against Zimbabwe after drawing the opening match in Uyo.
“We really feel disappointed not picking all three points from this clash with Zimbabwe. However, we are not going to dwell on this now but keep fighting on till the very end.
“I want our fans to stick with us as we will do our best and finish tops at the end of the campaign,” said the ex-Arsenal graduate.
Like Iwobi, Moses Simon has expressed confidence that the Eagles will bounce back in the qualifiers.
The Nantes of France striker expressed belief that the Eagles are capable of turning things around. “Not the result we wanted but we will surely bounce back.
“Big apologies to our fans, you deserve better than the performance against Lesotho and Zimbabwe,” he said. “We have overcome so many challenges in the past. And now is the time to reflect and come back stronger.”
Going into the break in the World Cup qualifying tournament, many are of the view that Rwanda has done Nigeria a favour after the East African side pummelled South Africa 2-0 in Kigali to become the new leader of Group C with four points from two matches.
South Africa are second with three points from the same number of matches while Nigeria now occupy third spot with two points from two matches.
The winner of the group is expected to secure an automatic spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada and Mexico.
The qualifiers will resume in June 2024 with Nigeria hoping to make up lost ground when they welcome South Africa to Uyo, before a tricky trip to face their Benin Republic counterpart being handled by former Eagles’ coach Rohr.
