Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, has declared that the Super Eagles will not qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) refuses to act on urgent issues facing the team, Footynaija.com reports.
The spiritual leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church has warned that Nigeria’s campaign is headed for disaster if William Troost-Ekong remains the team’s captain.
According to Primate Ayodele, the NFF must make three major changes to prevent failure. First, he demanded that the federation drop Troost-Ekong from the captaincy role. He criticised the player’s leadership and claimed it would lead Nigeria to another heartbreak.
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“If that captain Ekong or whatever his name is, who drew tattoos lead us to the World Cup, we will fail,” Ayodele stated in a video posted on X.
Secondly, the prophet called for a change in goalkeeping. Despite Stanley Nwabali’s heroics at the 2023 AFCON and recent matches, Ayodele insisted that the national team needs a new number one.
“If we do not find an alternative for Stanley Nwabali, we will fail o,” he said.
Finally, he warned that Victor Osimhen cannot carry the team alone and urged the NFF to find another forward who can play at his level. He asked the football authorities to recruit new players with proven talent and bring them into the Super Eagles.
“Those who are playing now, if they represent us, Nigeria will fail,” Ayodele warned.
He concluded by saying that nothing will stop Nigeria from reaching the World Cup “except if we don’t listen.”
Nigeria sit in fourth place in Group C of the African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team has recorded just one win, four draws, and one loss in their first six matches. Only the group winner will qualify automatically for the tournament, while four of the best runners-up will enter the play-offs for a final intercontinental spot.
Failure to qualify will mean Nigeria misses out on back-to-back World Cups, having already failed to reach the 2022 edition in Qatar.
