African Football Discussion Thread: {Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2027 ⚽⚽}.

[Agbamoni]

I have turned off my TV. I can't be watching this nonsense the Super Eagles are playing.  The field is bad. The players are choking on the field. They didn't qualify for the World Cup. Now the Super Eagles team don't want to qualify for the AFCON.  Tell me if these are the same players who play in Europe. How did they get there?

Apart from Osimhen, we don't have a striker in this team. Osimhen is the only striker who can score for Nigeria. All the rest are a bunch of woodwork that can't move their body.

These Super Eagles players can’t even be defended anymore, most of them do t play with the country at their heart because they mostly don’t stay in the country, they are feeling like it’s a favor to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria because they are been called, while we have young talented players here in the home base that are ready to play, but they are not considered professionals despite how competitive the NPL is now.

We can’t blame anyone today, I just hope the case of lack of qualifying to the World Cup repeat itself because we can’t take it. Every other counties are serious with their football and other sports, while our bad leaders are corrupt in every aspect including in football aspect. I just hope there will be change in the future, but for now, I don’t have time to waste my effort to support the team again.

Enough is enough. If they don't want to play for the Super Eagles anymore, let them leave the team squad. They won't be the first and won't be the last to leave their national team.

The coach also has to play by his own rules. None of those players is bigger than the country. The coach should take out the players that are not doing well and replace them with players that will be willing to do well.

[Slow death]

Well I think Morroco is ever ready to host the nations cup anytime they’re called upon because they have the standard facilities, that’s what it means to have a working government. I think if Nigeria have what it takes to host the nations cup this would have been an opportunity for them to qualify for the competition automatically because as it is right now they’re not in a good position to qualify for the tournament and it will be a really big shame to miss out again in the nations cup after failing to qualify for the last two world cups.

CAF is not favoring Morocco or any other country; the link posted by member @el che states that CAF contacted other countries, and the list of countries is as follows:

French outlet Le Monde revealed that CAF has already contacted Morocco, South Africa, and Algeria as standby options should the co-hosts fail to meet required deadlines.

source: https://www.goal.com/en/lists/caf-explores-alternative-hosts-afcon-2027-kenya-uganda-infrastructure-delays/bltbc98da5bfdc5f97b

Note that I posted a link different from the one shared by member @@el che; I did this to show that this story appeared in other news outlets, suggesting it could well be true and does not indicate any favoritism by CAF toward Morocco. Also, observe that the Moroccan federation stated it would no longer host the AFCON a story published in June of this year, as can be seen here:

Morocco Will No Longer Submit Bids to Host African Competitions

source: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2026/06/319361/lekjaa-morocco-will-no-longer-submit-bids-to-host-african-competitions/#google_vignette

This means there is little chance of Morocco accepting CAF's proposal, which is why CAF has contacted other countries like South Africa and Algeria. I don't know the situation in Algeria, as I don't follow news from there, but I do follow news from South Africa; they recently experienced xenophobic attacks and expelled many Mozambicans people from my country.

Honestly, I don't blame them for expelling illegal immigrants, but they crossed the line when they started destroying the property of people from my country and even expelling those who were there legally. That is why I highly doubt the South African government would accept CAF's proposal, making it more likely that Algeria will accept. I know many people have come to hate CAF and Morocco because of the issue surrounding the Senegal vs. Morocco match rules are rules, But we will soon see what the final verdict is, based on what is being reported on news channels.



source: https://supersport.com/football/news/86c1d4ca-b438-4cde-b9e6-a8827d1d2e0d/big-announcement-cas-update-on-senegal-v-morocco-afcon-final-dispute

I hope people accept the final decision and don't blame CAF and Morocco afterwards.

[Different patterns]

The super eagles are not bothered because they get paid by their club. The concern to win trophies is not in their mind anymore. I won’t blame them. If it’s not the love we have for our country, tell me why will I be supporting the super eagles.

This time around the government is not to be blamed for the misfortune of the super eagles team. The super eagles team should take the blame for losing. The fans should stop blaming the NFF for what happened at Guinea Bissau. The players were poor.

The poor performance of the super eagles doe not hit me as a surprise anymore cause it is obvious that these guys have no zeal in them whenever they represent Nigeria in any competition, cause nobody holds them responsible for any failure,

They all belong to various clubs in Europe that pay them heavily hence they do not care how Nigerians feel whenever they underperform cause the badge of the national team holds less value to them than that of their various European clubs.

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole, because if you remember last afcon, they have to protest before their last game's payment was made and now you see the video of them been taken from the airport with Avalon and several other incidents, I think the management needs to do better and also the players needs to play for passion and respect for the nation. But if the management can take care of issues on their side, then they can hold the players accountable for underperformance.

[Doan9269]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole,

Sometimes it is not the government that is not putting him much effort to support the players in their respective capacity, but imagine when a bill of 5 billion naira is being signed for the football players and starting from the sports minister down to every other high profile officials of the government are all involved I'm taking their cut from the sum, after sharing it from within themselves, don't be surprised that maybe 300 million may be what will eventually get to the players, this is why politics is everywhere and we can justify those in it because one day we also go there and still make a similar mistake of what they have done.

[Jaycoinz]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole,

Sometimes it is not the government that is not putting him much effort to support the players in their respective capacity, but imagine when a bill of 5 billion naira is being signed for the football players and starting from the sports minister down to every other high profile officials of the government are all involved I'm taking their cut from the sum, after sharing it from within themselves, don't be surprised that maybe 300 million may be what will eventually get to the players, this is why politics is everywhere and we can justify those in it because one day we also go there and still make a similar mistake of what they have done.

So everything still boils down to corruption and that's why I say the biggest problem of the entire country is actually everyone living in the country at least their would be some slight exception but majority of everyone in this country is the fucking problem of this country. If the nation would go for a different approach in terms of ruling and holding all who are working as government officials accountable for every penny that was dropped in their possession, it will definitely go a long way.  I mean even passing a death penalty to anyone who steals 1 naira from office and enforcing that strict policy and trust me, in 10 years this entire nation would be looking close to being a paradise

[Jegileman]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole, because if you remember last afcon, they have to protest before their last game's payment was made and now you see the video of them been taken from the airport with Avalon and several other incidents, I think the management needs to do better and also the players needs to play for passion and respect for the nation. But if the management can take care of issues on their side, then they can hold the players accountable for underperformance.

You have a valid point here and not so many people are looking at it in these directions. The super eagles of Nigeria are suppose to be a team we should standby in good and hard times, but when they make us feel not satisfied with their performance, they need to adjust and play better next time. What is really fueling this conversation was the team they played against and won them easily. How many professional players are in that team that can match Nigeria’s but yet they were beaten easily by them. They need to be hold accountable for that and do well in their coming match, that’s the only way Nigerians will feel at ease with them for now.

[Spaceman1000$]

I have turned off my TV. I can't be watching this nonsense the Super Eagles are playing.  The field is bad. The players are choking on the field. They didn't qualify for the World Cup. Now the Super Eagles team don't want to qualify for the AFCON.  Tell me if these are the same players who play in Europe. How did they get there?

Apart from Osimhen, we don't have a striker in this team. Osimhen is the only striker who can score for Nigeria. All the rest are a bunch of woodwork that can't move their body.

These Super Eagles players can’t even be defended anymore, most of them do t play with the country at their heart because they mostly don’t stay in the country, they are feeling like it’s a favor to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria because they are been called, while we have young talented players here in the home base that are ready to play, but they are not considered professionals despite how competitive the NPL is now.

We can’t blame anyone today, I just hope the case of lack of qualifying to the World Cup repeat itself because we can’t take it. Every other counties are serious with their football and other sports, while our bad leaders are corrupt in every aspect including in football aspect. I just hope there will be change in the future, but for now, I don’t have time to waste my effort to support the team again.

Enough is enough. If they don't want to play for the Super Eagles anymore, let them leave the team squad. They won't be the first and won't be the last to leave their national team.

The coach also has to play by his own rules. None of those players is bigger than the country. The coach should take out the players that are not doing well and replace them with players that will be willing to do well.

We have Sampson SiaSia, we have Austin Eguavoen, we have Emmanuel amunike, these are Nigerian finest coaches that are still very much alive. You need to understand the kind of quality players Sampson SiaSia brought to the national team, these guys understand the terrain more than a foreign coache, I don't see what Eric Chelle is doing that our local coaches cannot do even better, let's start the corruption fight from there, because the needs to bring in a foreign coach bring more money into the pocket of NFF and that is why they always sort for them.

[Nightwatchmare]

You are helping me in clarifying some of the issues I've raised, this European players whenever they are playing for the country the passion and zeal is not the same when they are playing for their club sides, and that is why you need a local player in some wings, that will bring in  passion and New energy, so that there will be a threat on this other players that if you don't play well, this guy can literally replace you. So if you don't build such consciousness in the head of this European base players, they will see the whole idea of playing for the national team as a joke, instead of a thing of a pride, because trust me playing for a country of over 200 million is a thing of pride.

Nigerian players playing in Europe always have high zeal and passion whenever they are playing for their team in Europe because they are paid good amount of money and they are being given a good welfare, so giving home-base players opportunity to play in the super eagles team will not improve the performance of the super eagles when the NFF executives do not want Nigeria football to progress. The NFF executives and the super eagles team need reform, and that reform should first start with the NFF executives before the reform in the super eagles team will take a positive effect.

[Y3shot]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole,

Sometimes it is not the government that is not putting him much effort to support the players in their respective capacity, but imagine when a bill of 5 billion naira is being signed for the football players and starting from the sports minister down to every other high profile officials of the government are all involved I'm taking their cut from the sum, after sharing it from within themselves, don't be surprised that maybe 300 million may be what will eventually get to the players, this is why politics is everywhere and we can justify those in it because one day we also go there and still make a similar mistake of what they have done.

It is not a problem of the government, which I believe is playing its role. This is the same team where legends played with great passion many years ago. The problem falls on the management, which is affecting everything.

The kind of coaches they are signing are incompetent, but they sign them based on politics and not on merit and experience, and this is the same thing with the players, and this is why there are no effective results in their performance.

[Sunshine1525]

Nigerian players playing in Europe always have high zeal and passion whenever they are playing for their team in Europe because they are paid good amount of money and they are being given a good welfare, so giving home-base players opportunity to play in the super eagles team will not improve the performance of the super eagles when the NFF executives do not want Nigeria football to progress. The NFF executives and the super eagles team need reform, and that reform should first start with the NFF executives before the reform in the super eagles team will take a positive effect.

Anyone who's yet to know that NFF is the problem of the Nigerian team should continue being decieved, why won't they do better for a club that my welfare and medical seriously, if the Nigerian team was given them good treatment and better facilities to train with and they're not getting better, then we'll have reasons to criticize them.

However our facilities are not up to standards and they're not getting proper training so good performance shouldn't be expected. Serious reform my dear they're very very corrupt and it's affecting our football teams from senior to teenage level.

[Livingleged]

Nigerian players playing in Europe always have high zeal and passion whenever they are playing for their team in Europe because they are paid good amount of money and they are being given a good welfare, so giving home-base players opportunity to play in the super eagles team will not improve the performance of the super eagles when the NFF executives do not want Nigeria football to progress. The NFF executives and the super eagles team need reform, and that reform should first start with the NFF executives before the reform in the super eagles team will take a positive effect.

Giving the home based player opportunity to play in the super eagles team will improve the team performance based on my thoughts. This player have not yet made names for themselves,  and will want to make that impact to get noticed when ever they get the opportunity to be seen on the big stage. if you look at the current squad, the best performing player that give their all are all home based player.

You will see the hunger in osihmen’s face when he’s playing that also is seen on Moses Simon, unlike  the other guys playing at Europe, until that is being addressed the supper eagle team will continue to struggle. I’ve not gotten over that shameful losss from the last match against Guinea Bissau.

[Rockson1]

It is not a problem of the government, which I believe is playing its role. This is the same team where legends played with great passion many years ago. The problem falls on the management, which is affecting everything.

The kind of coaches they are signing are competent, but they sign them based on politics and not on merit and experience, and this is the same thing with the players, and this is why there are no effective results in their performance.

Incompetent you wanted to say, I agree with you and that is because of what the NFF stands to gain, or maybe the sign coach that they can control, but you can not exclude the government on matter like this, because the NFF chairman and every other person in that board is been appointed by the president, so why will you exclude the government from the problem the Nigerian football or should I say the entire sports is facing, if you believe that everyone that is involved has their roles to play, it means the government should not be exonerated in something like this, those legends you are talking about was not given deaf ears, Nigeria leadership was not this poor then, perhaps you've have forgotten.

[Zigabel]

Nigerian players playing in Europe always have high zeal and passion whenever they are playing for their team in Europe because they are paid good amount of money and they are being given a good welfare, so giving home-base players opportunity to play in the super eagles team will not improve the performance of the super eagles when the NFF executives do not want Nigeria football to progress. The NFF executives and the super eagles team need reform, and that reform should first start with the NFF executives before the reform in the super eagles team will take a positive effect.

You are absolutely correct, they cannot think of bringing in new players and forget the main thing which is building the structure and creating the environment that will allow them perform very well, in Europe they are giving that enabling environment and good welfare packages that encourages the players to always be at their best, at the National level, the players may not even be demanding for a very huge package, because some of them may just be showing patriotism but then it doesn't mean that simple basics should be neglected, there are somethings that are basic to the performance of the team that will help them a long way which when given them, they will most definitely be at their best and get the team to been at the top of their performance. The structure on which the NFF operates currently is such that does not encourage the boys in any way good, if only they could get that fixed, i believe some of the international stars will be glad to want to come play for the team out of patriotism.

[el che]

...

CAF is not favoring Morocco or any other country; the link posted by member @el che states that CAF contacted other countries, and the list of countries is as follows:

French outlet Le Monde revealed that CAF has already contacted Morocco, South Africa, and Algeria as standby options should the co-hosts fail to meet required deadlines.

source: https://www.goal.com/en/lists/caf-explores-alternative-hosts-afcon-2027-kenya-uganda-infrastructure-delays/bltbc98da5bfdc5f97b

Note that I posted a link different from the one shared by member @@el che; I did this to show that this story appeared in other news outlets, suggesting it could well be true and does not indicate any favoritism by CAF toward Morocco. Also, observe that the Moroccan federation stated it would no longer host the AFCON a story published in June of this year, as can be seen here:

Morocco Will No Longer Submit Bids to Host African Competitions

source: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2026/06/319361/lekjaa-morocco-will-no-longer-submit-bids-to-host-african-competitions/#google_vignette

This means there is little chance of Morocco accepting CAF's proposal, which is why CAF has contacted other countries like South Africa and Algeria. I don't know the situation in Algeria, as I don't follow news from there, but I do follow news from South Africa; they recently experienced xenophobic attacks and expelled many Mozambicans people from my country.

...

Yeah exactly. It makes sense why CAF would reach out to Morocco first, not because of some political conspiracy or favoritism but because they realistically have the best and most ready infrastructure on short notice.

As for Morocco’s previous stance about not wanting to host future African competitions, that's from the fallout surrounding the controversial 2025 AFCON final. It makes sense that they’d push back and say they're done unless the terms are lucrative enough to make it worthwhile for them. If they are going to step in and bail out a tournament then demanding better financial benefits is only fair business.

[Btcdeybodi]

Giving the home based player opportunity to play in the super eagles team will improve the team performance based on my thoughts. This player have not yet made names for themselves,  and will want to make that impact to get noticed when ever they get the opportunity to be seen on the big stage. if you look at the current squad, the best performing player that give their all are all home based player.

The home based players are always eager to give their best so that they can get international recognition. I still remember how passionate Victor Osimhen was when he was playing at the Nigerian junior team before he was called up to join the senior team and from there he began to shine till the player he has become. The last time Nigeria won the AFCON, it was mostly the home based players there were used. The problem with the national team is just that politics has entered into the Nigerian football federation if not there are great players in the Nigerian Professional Premier League that they can call to the national team and they will perform better than most of the foreign based players.

[Davidvictorson]

The home based players are always eager to give their best so that they can get international recognition. I still remember how passionate Victor Osimhen was when he was playing at the Nigerian junior team before he was called up to join the senior team and from there he began to shine till the player he has become. The last time Nigeria won the AFCON, it was mostly the home based players there were used. The problem with the national team is just that politics has entered into the Nigerian football federation if not there are great players in the Nigerian Professional Premier League that they can call to the national team and they will perform better than most of the foreign based players.

I agree with you and this cannot be overemphasized.
Truth be told is that even the people who caused this fall of the super eagles know this but since there is no repercussions or punishment to them, they have continued to drive the whole team down into destruction.
We have great players both home based and international but that passion has been destroyed by the leadership.

[Iamgoat]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole,

Sometimes it is not the government that is not putting him much effort to support the players in their respective capacity, but imagine when a bill of 5 billion naira is being signed for the football players and starting from the sports minister down to every other high profile officials of the government are all involved I'm taking their cut from the sum, after sharing it from within themselves, don't be surprised that maybe 300 million may be what will eventually get to the players, this is why politics is everywhere and we can justify those in it because one day we also go there and still make a similar mistake of what they have done.

It is so unfortunate for us to be expecting excellence of performance from our players when monies allocated to and meant to be spent on their wages and salaries are being squandered by those within the helms of affairs. I wonder how and why we have allowed corruption to have completely eaten up our country. No sector is left out of it and it is a systemic and leadership issues. It takes two to tango to solve these terrible issues. Over 5 billion naira but in the end you will hear some players . In the last World Cup, each player was promised $1k per appearance and $200 daily camp allowance. I don’t think such amount is still enough to motivate them when compared to what their peers get in other countries. I am not saying the players should not perform because of the low incomes, what i am saying is if the players eventually hear how much is budgeted for them from above and what eventually comes to them, they will rather be demotivated and annoyed with the money they get .

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole,

Sometimes it is not the government that is not putting him much effort to support the players in their respective capacity, but imagine when a bill of 5 billion naira is being signed for the football players and starting from the sports minister down to every other high profile officials of the government are all involved I'm taking their cut from the sum, after sharing it from within themselves, don't be surprised that maybe 300 million may be what will eventually get to the players, this is why politics is everywhere and we can justify those in it because one day we also go there and still make a similar mistake of what they have done.

It's just sad that right from time, the inability of the officials of the ministry of Sport have always been one of the major problems that our Nigerian Super Eagles have. And over time, instead of we seeing a positive change, it keeps declining due to mismanagement.  And when it comes to the proposed 5billion naira that you mentioned above, this money would have drastically revived the Sport industry to the fullest. But its just sad that if such amount happened to be released, the key players that will be representing the country won't be heavily compensated and paid what is due. Which is one thing that have discouraged many players.

[Ronsbit]

Truth be told, it's obvious that they are not well taken care of in terms of payment and welfare and probably because of that, they have gradually lost passion for the team as a whole,

Sometimes it is not the government that is not putting him much effort to support the players in their respective capacity, but imagine when a bill of 5 billion naira is being signed for the football players and starting from the sports minister down to every other high profile officials of the government are all involved I'm taking their cut from the sum, after sharing it from within themselves, don't be surprised that maybe 300 million may be what will eventually get to the players, this is why politics is everywhere and we can justify those in it because one day we also go there and still make a similar mistake of what they have done.

This is actually the bone in the neck of our football body here in Nigeria, they likely pad the sport's budget and even at then, they still delay footballers wages and even take from them also.
The government has no issues passing bill but the key executives are the problem of our sport's body because of their greedy nature to accumulate more.

[Obim34]

Anyone who's yet to know that NFF is the problem of the Nigerian team should continue being decieved, why won't they do better for a club that my welfare and medical seriously, if the Nigerian team was given them good treatment and better facilities to train with and they're not getting better, then we'll have reasons to criticize them.

When FIFA offered the NFF a whopping $1.2 million to provide a stadium for amateur players, approximately 1 billion Naira, the NFF couldn't show proof of how they spent the whole money, questions were not asked, and the whole matter passed, the NFF has always been the reason why Nigeria perishes in sports.

The Super Eagles don't have good training facilities or a good medical system. I don't blame players refusing to put their bodies on the line against other countries, they cannot return to their clubs injured, considering the treatment and how the NFF prefers to double their bags rather than attend to pressing issues to promote the sport, there has been no accountability from the NFF as a body.