Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has warned that Nigeria football will be dead should the country fail to qualify for the next World Cup in 2026.
The Super Eagles failed to qualify for the just-concluded World Cup in Qatar, which was won by Argentina.
“Nigeria football will be all but dead if we failed to qualify for the next World Cup,” warned Oliseh, who played at two World Cups and was on the FIFA Study Group for the 2022 World Cup.
“We’re already behind many countries because we didn’t qualify (for Qatar 2022) and we’re farther behind because we didn’t participate at this World Cup.
“Football is a religion in this country, but when you don’t have a solid league, you cannot have a good national team.”
The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada and will be expanded to 48 teams with Africa presenting nine qualifiers.
Oliseh listed improved youth development, scouting, infrastructure, private investment, among others for Nigeria football to make any remarkable progress.
The former Super Eagles captain revealed that one of the trends in world football observed by the FIFA Study Group for Qatar 2022 is that a player making an action makes the more telling difference than the organised and passing game.
Oliseh picked Pele as his GOAT ahead of Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo.
