National Teams
Tijani Babangida: World Cup miss a career-defining blow for current Eagles generation
By Dayo Awoniyi
Former Nigeria winger Tijani Babangida says Nigeria’s consecutive failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup represents a major career setback for the current national team players—one he believes will have long-term consequences far deeper than many of them currently realise, Nigeria Footballng reports.
Babangida, a member of the historic Atlanta ’96 Olympic gold-winning team, said missing football’s premier global tournament deprives players of irreplaceable exposure, prestige, and career-shaping opportunities.
“The present set of Super Eagles don’t know the value of representing Nigeria at the World Cup. Sadly, they may not understand what this means to their careers until they retire,” he said.
He explained that playing at the World Cup opened doors during and after his own career, providing benefits that “money cannot buy.”
Babangida criticised the team’s failure to take advantage of their final qualifying lifeline during the 2026 World Cup playoff, noting that the decision to protest over unpaid allowances at such a crucial moment proved costly.
“The 2026 World Cup miss will hit the Super Eagles harder than they think. We were denied many things during our time, yet we still won Olympic gold in ’96 and played at the World Cup,” he said.
He questioned the legacy the current squad will leave behind, pointing to their struggles against Lesotho, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe—all home fixtures that ended without a win—before eventually failing in the playoffs.
Despite his criticism, Babangida offered a glimmer of optimism.
“Maybe the team will be remembered for winning the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. That would be good for their careers and for Nigeria’s image as a great football nation,” he concluded.
