Calvin Bassey reflects on World Cup absence and quest for Afcon 2023 glory

Fulham and Super Eagles defender, Calvin Bassey, has recalled the disappointment of not qualifying Nigeria for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar while enjoying his time with the national team.

Since his debut in March last year, Bassey now has 10 caps and has yet to play any major tournament for the Super Eagles.

Although he was part of the team that narrowly missed out on the most recent World Cup, losing to local rivals Ghana on away goals rule in a qualification play-off for one of Africa’s five allotted places in the finals.

The 23-year-old will hope to make the final list for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) next month with Nigeria.

“It was crazy playing 1-1 against one of our biggest rivals in front of 60,000 people in the Nigerian capital Abuja,” he told The Athletic.

“I remember the final whistle going and then this noise. You could hear the anger, you could feel it. Bottles were being thrown onto the pitch, so we just ran down the tunnel into the dressing room.

“The police took us in and shut it off. It’s hard, as you want to ask if that reaction was necessary, but we were fuming and they deserved to be angry.

“We know that we’ve been underperforming. We’ve got easily the best team on paper.”

Nigeria will face Equatorial Guinea, host nation Ivory Coast, and Guinea-Bissua in the group stage as they aim to win the competition for the fourth time, and first since 2013.