Alex Iwobi has urged Nigerians to get behind the Super Eagles ahead of their upcoming World Cup play-offs semi-final against Gabon despite the disappointment of missing out on an automatic ticket after struggling through the qualifiers, Footynaija.com reports.
The Super Eagles endured a disappointingly slow start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign where they went without a win from their first four outings, recording three draws and one defeat.
However, the arrival of Franco-Malian tactician Eric Chelle as head coach in January coincided with a resurgence that saw the Super Eagles record four wins and two draws from their final six matches to finish second behind South Africa in Group C.
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While that second place finish wasn’t enough for automatic qualification, it handed Nigeria a chance to take the play-offs route. With the game against Gabon on the horizon, Iwobi wants Nigerians to give the Super Eagles their full backing.
“It wasn’t the greatest of starts,” he acknowledged in a recent interview with BBC Sport. “But they (the fans) also need to understand we all have the same goal.
“I understand when they’re disappointed because we are very disappointed in not winning games comfortably or winning against teams that maybe we should have.
“We feel like on any day, if we give 100%, and we’ve got the players to do so, that we can beat any team. But there’s one thing saying it, we have to prove it.”
Iwobi and company will be expecting a tough battle against Gabon, who finished the qualifying series as one of the teams with the highest points tally (25). Nevertheless, the Super Eagles will back themselves to come out on top given the sheer amount of quality available within their ranks.
