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Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle believes Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup can be traced back to two costly draws that left the team chasing rather than leading their qualifying group, Footynaija reports.
Looking back at the campaign, the former Lens defender said the 1-1 home draw against Zimbabwe in Uyo and the 1-1 away draw against South Africa in Bloemfontein proved decisive. Those four dropped points eventually allowed South Africa to finish above Nigeria in Group C and claim the automatic World Cup ticket.
Chelle admitted that the Super Eagles paid a heavy price for not winning matches they had under control.
“I was appointed in January last year,” Chelle told Algerian influencer Riadh Belaïche.
“When I arrived, Nigeria had three points out of 12, so we fought hard to try to qualify. Having reached the playoffs, we lost against the Democratic Republic of Congo. We lost on penalties; they deserved the victory.
“It’s true that in some matches, like against Zimbabwe, we drew at home while the match was in our hands. In the end, these two dropped points hurt us a lot. We drew in South Africa.
“Of course, we are disappointed because we felt we had the ability to qualify for the World Cup.”
Nigeria looked set to beat Zimbabwe after Victor Osimhen scored in the 74th minute, only for Tawanda Chirewa to equalise in the 90th minute in Uyo. Against South Africa in Bloemfontein, the Super Eagles recovered from William Troost-Ekong’s own goal through Calvin Bassey’s first-half header but could not find a winning goal.
Nigeria later reached the African playoffs but their hopes ended with a penalty shootout defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite that disappointment, Chelle recently agreed to a new contract with the Nigeria Football Federation that will likely keep him in charge of the former African champions until 2030.
