African Football Discussion Thread Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2025/2026

[CryptSafe]

The World Cup qualification didn't start today. The Super Eagles never took it serious. If they had put in serious at the very beginning, they would be topping the group. I am pretty sure they underestimated the other country's in Group C excluding South Africa.

When I speak about the Super Eagles, it upsets me. No one expected them not to qualify because they have the biggest squad ever in Africa.

It was a big blow on the face of Nigerians, how we pride ourselves in our team and what we could do, the team has got the squad to not only qualify but, to stay longer in the tournament than any African nation. Unfortunately, these guys are way more into TikTok, social media attention and other things than they do football.

NFF really need to see past the politics and starts putting more into proper player selection and motivation because, this right here with the way they are handling things, they are just destroying the game for Nigerians.

The NFF also has a portion of the blame because their choices and decisions led to this mess. The set of players that came were all the TikTok generation players; they showed no sign of seriousness from the beginning of the qualifiers, and they underestimated their group opponents because they were all international players with experience and expertise that could not even fetch them a straight back to back win. Maybe the NFF should just withdraw allof them from the qualifiers match and forget about the world cup as their performance is very embarassing to say the least.

[Mayor of ogba]

I don't think there is any need to try to blame South Africa for their poor pitch whether they did it intentionally or not because if we had won our first 7 games or at least won 5, we would've in a better position such that whatever gets thrown at us in South Africa (bad pitch, bad officiating, etc), we would still come out strong. This pointing of fingers won't do any good. The problem right now is that even as we have top stars, we can't compete at the international stage—good pitch or not and that's worrisome.

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

[BitBakerr1]

I don't think there is any need to try to blame South Africa for their poor pitch whether they did it intentionally or not because if we had won our first 7 games or at least won 5, we would've in a better position such that whatever gets thrown at us in South Africa (bad pitch, bad officiating, etc), we would still come out strong. This pointing of fingers won't do any good. The problem right now is that even as we have top stars, we can't compete at the international stage—good pitch or not and that's worrisome.

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

The super eagles needs a very good coach because their problem is lack of good coach they need a coach that knows the best position for players to play it does not really mean that a player that is playing for a certain position in his club may do well when he plays in that certain position in the country match these are the things the coach should look into and again the NFF needs a good president because a lot of things are going on in the Nigerian sports which I really don't like especially in the football sector, I heard a news that Jay Jay okocha is interested in the NFF president and some people that are contesting with him has already stepped down meaning he has the opportunity of becoming the NFF president and I believe when he's giving this position everything will change for good because a lot of things we will be put in order.

[Salahmu]

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

Certainly they wouldn't have because being on the second place would be the point the Benin team was  having so definitely there is nothing negative the one point from the  draw would have done to them because they would have been on 15 points. however like I said since we are referring to the imaginary second position I'm using the data of the country that came out second to explain what there fate would have actually been but unfortunately they are neither of those positions and doesn't have anything to depend on, South Africa did nothing to them because everything was fair and they played just like the competition they are.

[Promocodeudo]

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

I think you're not alone in perception of yours, super eagles aren't serious, let's not forget that South Africans they were hoping on to qualify started the race for world cup qualifications at the same time, the South Africa team took events serious knowing exactly what couod become of them if they didn't play as a team that's in the race to achieve a very important goal, just look at the super eagle complaining for what they could achieved at ease if not for there lack of seriousness, this has shown that the super eagle players deserve what they got after all unseriousness begats nothing.

[Abbatty]

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

I think you're not alone in perception of yours, super eagles aren't serious, let's not forget that South Africans they were hoping on to qualify started the race for world cup qualifications at the same time, the South Africa team took events serious knowing exactly what couod become of them if they didn't play as a team that's in the race to achieve a very important goal, just look at the super eagle complaining for what they could achieved at ease if not for there lack of seriousness, this has shown that the super eagle players deserve what they got after all unseriousness begats nothing.

That the problem is with the supers eagles, they don’t really the qualifiers serious from the early stage till it getting to an end then they start calculating possible wins and possible points. Just take a look at the South African team from the beginning, they have taken every match serious like it a final. Well if we want to talk about the super eagles problem we might spend a whole decade here and still have plenty of things to say.

Now let face the really, we are where we are already. As for me I don’t have hope in qualifying for the World Cup, I don’t want to get my hopes up and later on be heart broken. It always a good feeling to have the super eagles in the world but they need to start living to expectations, football is not played by name but by passion and dedication. There is still a small chance for them to qualify let see if magic can happen.

[Davidvictorson]

I think you're not alone in perception of yours, super eagles aren't serious, let's not forget that South Africans they were hoping on to qualify started the race for world cup qualifications at the same time, the South Africa team took events serious knowing exactly what couod become of them if they didn't play as a team that's in the race to achieve a very important goal, just look at the super eagle complaining for what they could achieved at ease if not for there lack of seriousness, this has shown that the super eagle players deserve what they got after all unseriousness begats nothing.

I will say this, again and again, I do not blame the boys. I blame the leaderships. The team cannot succeed above the level that the leadership has placed on them. I mean above the standard. Look at our athletics division, it is the same thing. It is not even the athletics but the leadership. I just hope that things would get better and we see more improvement on team performance so that these discussions will move to something better like talking about how many championships we would win.

[Dunamisx]

I don't think there is any need to try to blame South Africa for their poor pitch whether they did it intentionally or not because if we had won our first 7 games or at least won 5, we would've in a better position such that whatever gets thrown at us in South Africa (bad pitch, bad officiating, etc), we would still come out strong. This pointing of fingers won't do any good. The problem right now is that even as we have top stars, we can't compete at the international stage—good pitch or not and that's worrisome.

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

What the Super Eagles now shows is in their inability of defeating South Africa, which is not good at all, in Africa, the Nigerian Super Eagle supposed to be the most fierce country to play with, but now as we have it, whenever they see an opportunity for playing with other African countries, the confidence in them for winning is no longer confide, now how will they be able to defeat whenever they played against other countries from some other continents.

[Marykeller]

The World Cup qualification didn't start today. The Super Eagles never took it serious. If they had put in serious at the very beginning, they would be topping the group. I am pretty sure they underestimated the other country's in Group C excluding South Africa.

When I speak about the Super Eagles, it upsets me. No one expected them not to qualify because they have the biggest squad ever in Africa.

Biggest squad ever na for mouth make I speak am for pidgin jare because this whole thing is pissing me off the same way as you. We can't have a squad based on qualifying for the World Cup, yet we play like a mediocre team with no target or ambition on the pitch.

I know as the Super Eagles have missed next year's World Cup qualification, so the next World Cup qualification will be in four years. Over time so many of our Super Eagles players will be older, they will not be able to play for Super Eagles because of age or out of football form.

Let's take a look at the pix below of some of the key players age of the Super Eagles by 2030



The very thing is that, as we are pained about the Super Eagles not qualifying for the World Cup, they also are pained because in their whole career, there wasn't a time they represented Nigeria in the World Cup. That's a big blow to their career "never play in a World Cup tournament before''

[GiftedMAN]

I will say this, again and again, I do not blame the boys. I blame the leaderships. The team cannot succeed above the level that the leadership has placed on them. I mean above the standard. Look at our athletics division, it is the same thing. It is not even the athletics but the leadership. I just hope that things would get better and we see more improvement on team performance so that these discussions will move to something better like talking about how many championships we would win.

Of course you shouldn't blame the players because they can not perform well when the leadership is not doing anything good to ensure they have a better performance and the team is not being motivated by the leadership. Our players have a part to play which they are trying but when the head is bad the entire body would be affected that's one thing we need to have in mind before we choose who to blame.

In the area of improvement which is the most important thing right now, let's support the leadership of one of the former players like Jay Jay Okocha who will be contesting for the NFF president soon I believe as a good former player he will understand the importance of his position and work towards making a great change in the team.

[Zanab247]

I don't think there is any need to try to blame South Africa for their poor pitch whether they did it intentionally or not because if we had won our first 7 games or at least won 5, we would've in a better position such that whatever gets thrown at us in South Africa (bad pitch, bad officiating, etc), we would still come out strong. This pointing of fingers won't do any good. The problem right now is that even as we have top stars, we can't compete at the international stage—good pitch or not and that's worrisome.

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

We know that super Eagle have missed many opportunities from the beginning of this tournament, that would have make super Eagle to be in first or second position in their group but they joke with those opportunities to fall to third position.

I believe you know that it was the mistake the super Eagle defender made that make south Africa to draw that game 1:1 to put super Eagle for this condition. Based on the rumors on ground about the CAF rules, I guess there is still hope for supper Eagle and some other clubs in third position in their group if they will be able to win their next game, and with this seriousness of super Eagle players I guess they will embrace their opportunity to win their next game to qualify.

[Princess Leah]

Biggest squad ever na for mouth make I speak am for pidgin jare because this whole thing is pissing me off the same way as you. We can't have a squad based on qualifying for the World Cup, yet we play like a mediocre team with no target or ambition on the pitch.

I know as the Super Eagles have missed next year's World Cup qualification, so the next World Cup qualification will be in four years. Over time so many of our Super Eagles players will be older, they will not be able to play for Super Eagles because of age or out of football form.

Let's take a look at the pix below of some of the key players age of the Super Eagles by 2030



The very thing is that, as we are pained about the Super Eagles not qualifying for the World Cup, they also are pained because in their whole career, there wasn't a time they represented Nigeria in the World Cup. That's a big blow to their career "never play in a World Cup tournament before''

Squad wey no fit easily lead Nigeria to world cup against weaker African teams for group that one na squad at all, my dear, them be real biggest club for mouth and paper, those players dey fuck up and shame suppose catch them if Nigeria no enter the world cup eh go dey record say this country get that kind squad but them no fit quality for world cup like other big African Nations.

 Well I don't really blame those players cause the NFF too have their own share of the blame, it's been governed by politicians and there's strong politics playing in that sector, if they don't reform it then we're yet to be embarrassed cause they'll keep making wrong calls in signing inferior coaches to lead the Eagles.

[Hewlet]

I don't think there is any need to try to blame South Africa for their poor pitch whether they did it intentionally or not because if we had won our first 7 games or at least won 5, we would've in a better position such that whatever gets thrown at us in South Africa (bad pitch, bad officiating, etc), we would still come out strong. This pointing of fingers won't do any good. The problem right now is that even as we have top stars, we can't compete at the international stage—good pitch or not and that's worrisome.

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

It's going to be ridiculous to shift the blame to south African pitch as an excuse to where we currently stands with regards the possibility of us qualifying for the world cup. Left for me, there's no need stressing about this thing, the reality should have dawned on us already that as are not qualifying for the world cup. The AFCON is by the corner, the should just focus on that and allow other African nations that are more serious go into the world cup.

With how badly we've been performing, is there the slightest hope that should we qualify that we will represent Africa any well? Modern football is not a joke, if you're not serious about it, you will get knocked out and that's a fact.

[Slow death]

The World Cup qualification didn't start today. The Super Eagles never took it serious. If they had put in serious at the very beginning, they would be topping the group. I am pretty sure they underestimated the other country's in Group C excluding South Africa.

When I speak about the Super Eagles, it upsets me. No one expected them not to qualify because they have the biggest squad ever in Africa.

It was a big blow on the face of Nigerians, how we pride ourselves in our team and what we could do, the team has got the squad to not only qualify but, to stay longer in the tournament than any African nation. Unfortunately, these guys are way more into TikTok, social media attention and other things than they do football.

NFF really need to see past the politics and starts putting more into proper player selection and motivation because, this right here with the way they are handling things, they are just destroying the game for Nigerians.

The NFF also has a portion of the blame because their choices and decisions led to this mess. The set of players that came were all the TikTok generation players; they showed no sign of seriousness from the beginning of the qualifiers, and they underestimated their group opponents because they were all international players with experience and expertise that could not even fetch them a straight back to back win. Maybe the NFF should just withdraw allof them from the qualifiers match and forget about the world cup as their performance is very embarassing to say the least.

I'm not a Nigerian citizen, so I may make some mistakes in my comment. But I am an African citizen, particularly a Mozambique citizen. I follow African football and I really like the Nigerian national team. I remember the days when Nigeria had Nwankwo Kanu, a great player for Arsenal and the Nigerian national team. It makes no sense for Nigeria, with its current good squad, to have to go through these problems of not being able to qualify.

In my opinion, the mistake begins with the people running the Nigerian Football Federation, because they haven't been able to hire a national coach. Considering the good levels of Nigerian players and the leagues they play in, they need to hire a coach who has had some success in Europe and is familiar with all the European teams these Nigerian players play for. This coach should first be tested in friendlies. If the coach loses in friendlies against strong teams, so don't extend his contract too much, fire him early

[Odusko]

I don't think there is any need to try to blame South Africa for their poor pitch whether they did it intentionally or not because if we had won our first 7 games or at least won 5, we would've in a better position such that whatever gets thrown at us in South Africa (bad pitch, bad officiating, etc), we would still come out strong. This pointing of fingers won't do any good. The problem right now is that even as we have top stars, we can't compete at the international stage—good pitch or not and that's worrisome.

Had the been the Super Eagles were in the 1st position or 2nd position in their World Cup qualifying group when they played against South African, there's no way the Super Eagles would have depended on defeating South Africa to qualify for 2026 World Cup. I won't blame South Africa for anything because the Super Eagles had all the opportunities in the world to win their matches and book a spot in next year's World Cup, but they couldn't make use of the opportunities, so I blame the Super Eagles for the way they were treated by South Africa.

Is quite bad how our team have slided back so much among their African counterparts, imagine a whole Nigeria supper Eagles struggling to qualify for 2026 FIFA world cups, I competition that was aimed at winning the trophy for our old teams now we struggle to qualify, who knows what will happen if they eventually qualify, I believe their will get knocked out at the next stage, so why wasting the position for supper eagles if other African countries teams can perform better than them this time around.

[Africolo]

In my opinion, the mistake begins with the people running the Nigerian Football Federation, because they haven't been able to hire a national coach. Considering the good levels of Nigerian players and the leagues they play in, they need to hire a coach who has had some success in Europe and is familiar with all the European teams these Nigerian players play for. This coach should first be tested in friendlies. If the coach loses in friendlies against strong teams, so don't extend his contract too much, fire him early

The Nigerian football federation under this present leadership is the worst; these guys use politics to control everything. We've had some great coaches in the past, but they all left due to terrible treatment, unpaid salary and bonuses.  The previous manager performed admirably at the last AFCON, finishing as first runner-up, and was fired without good explanations.

The current Manager does not have the necessary experience to lead the team and it was quite obvious from the beginning, I can't remember the last time we won a game comfortably or play an exciting football like we used to. With the way we play we don't deserve to play in the World Cup.

[Coyster]

The previous manager performed admirably at the last AFCON, finishing as first runner-up, and was fired without good explanations.

Get your facts right, Jose Poseiro was not fired by the NFF, he decided to leave the Super Eagles when his contract expired after the AFCON 2023. According to him, he had already made the decision to leave the Super Eagles even before the AFCON ended, so even if the Super Eagles had won the AFCON, he would have still step down. This is what he had to say about his decision to quit the Super Eagles:

I decided that when I finished AFCON, I would leave. I had put too much effort into my job, and it was too much stress. Everyone supported me—my family and the players—but I grew fatigued,” Peseiro revealed. “I thought it was enough for me, even if I had won the AFCON.

[Agbe]

In my opinion, the mistake begins with the people running the Nigerian Football Federation, because they haven't been able to hire a national coach. Considering the good levels of Nigerian players and the leagues they play in, they need to hire a coach who has had some success in Europe and is familiar with all the European teams these Nigerian players play for. This coach should first be tested in friendlies. If the coach loses in friendlies against strong teams, so don't extend his contract too much, fire him early

The Nigerian football federation under this present leadership is the worst; these guys use politics to control everything. We've had some great coaches in the past, but they all left due to terrible treatment, unpaid salary and bonuses.  The previous manager performed admirably at the last AFCON, finishing as first runner-up, and was fired without good explanations.

The current Manager does not have the necessary experience to lead the team and it was quite obvious from the beginning, I can't remember the last time we won a game comfortably or play an exciting football like we used to. With the way we play we don't deserve to play in the World Cup.

Sometimes it's good that we tell ourselves the truth as sport fans even though we can are supporting a team the truth is that Nigeria have no business doing in the world cup, if we can't even comfortable win a qualifying game how will the super eagles play in the world cup so it's better that we don't qualify for the world cup.

[Ndabagi01]

The NFF also has a portion of the blame because their choices and decisions led to this mess. The set of players that came were all the TikTok generation players; they showed no sign of seriousness from the beginning of the qualifiers, and they underestimated their group opponents because they were all international players with experience and expertise that could not even fetch them a straight back to back win. Maybe the NFF should just withdraw allof them from the qualifiers match and forget about the world cup as their performance is very embarassing to say the least.

The NFF can’t do that now again, not how far they’ve come in the qualification now will that even happen. Nigeria is said to be one of the African teams with the best of players to represent and give them the best of the show in this qualifiers but they’ve just made it even worse for their fans to even have trust in them going forward.

The set of players we have now are good to be honest, but I think it is just like other people have said it, it is all about their mentality of looking down at their opponents that are in the same group with them, they should have taken advantage of the early chances they had but they didn't and misused it. It seems it’s too late for them now and we’re going to miss the World Cup for another time in a row.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

Sometimes it's good that we tell ourselves the truth as sport fans even though we can are supporting a team the truth is that Nigeria have no business doing in the world cup, if we can't even comfortable win a qualifying game how will the super eagles play in the world cup so it's better that we don't qualify for the world cup.

Manchester United has no business playing in Europe competition even Ruben Amorim thinks so but last season they played hoping that they can get an into European competition even.
Nigeria players are stars playing for big teams all over the world, going to the World Cup will be an achievements for them even if it looks unlikely after the draw with South Africa. On how the super eagles has performed in the qualifiers so far they don’t deserve to make it to the World Cup but as a fan I will hope I see them there.