Former Super Eagles captain Sunday Oliseh has called for a sweeping overhaul of Nigerian football leadership if the country fails to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Footynaija.com reports.
Nigeria has endured a difficult qualifying campaign so far, winning just once in six matches and collecting seven points. With South Africa leading the group and both Rwanda and Benin also ahead, the Super Eagles face a fight to secure passage to North America.
Pressure has mounted on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as fans question the direction of the team under new coach Eric Chelle.
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According to a report by ThisDayLive, Oliseh warned that missing out on the World Cup for a second successive time would represent a disaster that must not be tolerated.
“If Nigeria does not qualify for the next World Cup, and the people running football in Nigeria are still in their positions, then we do not even deserve to qualify for the next one,” Oliseh stated.
The 1994 AFCON winner, who also scored one of Nigeria’s most famous World Cup goals against Spain in 1998, stressed that football development cannot survive repeated setbacks. He explained that each failure to reach the tournament would set the country back several years.
In his words, “Every four years that you do not qualify for the World Cup, your football goes back eight years. That is how it works.”
Oliseh also likened the current approach of the football authorities to taking a wrong journey entirely.
“You cannot keep driving the same way towards Badagry and expect to find yourself in Sokoto. It cannot happen. You are going in the opposite direction,” he emphasised.
