Amid the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup in North America, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has voiced disappointment over Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the tournament.
Wike, speaking at the commissioning of the Gwagwalada–Kuje Road project on Wednesday, June 24, where former Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo was among dignitaries, said he was saddened that Nigeria failed to qualify for football’s biggest stage.
The minister noted that despite Nigeria’s football pedigree and the number of players of Nigerian heritage competing at the World Cup, the absence of the national team remained difficult to accept. “Yes, we have congratulated one of our stars, Joseph Yobo. But let me use this medium through you to tell the Super Eagles: we are not happy,” Wike said while addressing Yobo at the event.
“If nobody else will tell you that, because I saw people clapping for you the moment they saw the Super Eagles, I said, ‘I won’t clap.’ I won’t clap because I watch the World Cup. I see countries I have never heard of before qualifying to play in the World Cup, and I am sitting down for hours watching countries that are completely unknown. In this contest, we have no less than 13 top Nigerian players playing all over the world, but here we are; we did not qualify. Yobo, go and tell them. We are not happy.”
Nigeria’s national team, the Nigeria national football team, failed to reach a second consecutive World Cup after losing to the DR Congo national football team in the African playoff tournament last year. The Super Eagles, who first featured at the tournament in 1994, had reached the playoffs after missing out on an automatic qualification spot despite a 4–0 win over Benin Republic in their final qualifier.
Nigeria later advanced to the African playoffs as one of the best runners-up, defeating Gabon in their opening match before losing on penalties to DR Congo. The Congolese side went on to represent Africa in the intercontinental playoffs, where they secured one of the final two qualification spots for the tournament.