By Dayo Awoniyi
Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup are in serious jeopardy after another underwhelming run of results in the qualifiers.
The Super Eagles currently occupy third place in Group C with 11 points, trailing Benin Republic and sitting six points adrift of leaders South Africa.
With only two fixtures remaining — against Lesotho and Benin Republic — Nigeria must win both and rely on other results going their way to keep their qualification dreams alive.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali admitted his disappointment at the team’s sluggish approach earlier in the campaign.
“We (as a team) should have made more effort to qualify for the World Cup. We left it very late,” Nwabali told journalist Osasu Obayiuwana at the Bloemfontein Airport.
Failure to secure qualification would see the Super Eagles miss a second consecutive World Cup, after also failing to reach the 2022 edition in Qatar.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. On the back of domestic engagement since 2008, he began his international career journey at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
