FOOTBALL is diplomacy. It is big business. It is public relations. It is identity. But when the 48-nation World Cup kicked off in the United States, Mexico, and Canada on June 11, 2026, Nigeria — the most populous black nation on earth — was not on the pitch. That is darkness over the black race.
The tournament has started without us. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the biggest yet. 48 teams, 104 matches, 16 cities across three countries. It is the most lucrative edition in history. It is the most watched. It is the first with Cape Verde, Curaçao, Uzbekistan, and Jordan making debuts.
Nigeria is not there.
For the second consecutive World Cup, the Super Eagles failed to qualify. Africa got nine automatic slots plus one playoff berth. South Africa took Group C. Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, and debutants Cape Verde qualified.
Nigeria finished second in Group C behind South Africa, then lost the CAF playoff final to DR Congo on penalties in November 2025. The NFF petitioned FIFA over DR Congo’s eligibility, but the appeal was dismissed. So Victor Osimhen, one of Africa’s most significant footballers is home. Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Wilfred Ndidi, Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze are home. They watch as Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ blasts through World Cup stadiums and flags wave for Nigerian sound, but not for Nigerian football. The culture made it. The team did not.
Osimhen has broken his silence: “It’s bad, not just for me but for the rest of the guys. We’ve missed out twice in a row”. He has never played a World Cup. Many in this golden generation haven’t.
John Terry, former England Captain put it bluntly: “Nigeria will be a big miss… They’re a great nation… Nigeria probably would have gone further”. FIFA’s own ranking agrees: Nigeria is the second-highest ranked team not at the 2026 World Cup, 26th in the world, behind only Denmark.That is the reproach.
How Did We Get Here?
The autopsy of a campaign: Nigeria’s qualifying group had South Africa, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho. On paper, manageable. In reality, disaster.
The math: South Africa finished with 18 points. Nigeria had 17. One point. One match. The 1-1 draw at home to Lesotho on November 16, 2023 set the tone. South Africa had an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, against Lesotho and were docked points — yet still topped the group.
The playoff: Nigeria beat Gabon 4-1 in the semi-final, then drew 1-1 with DR Congo on November 16, 2025 and lost 3-4 on penalties. DR Congo went to the inter-confederation playoff, beat Jamaica 1-0 in extra time, and booked a ticket. They now sit in Group K with Portugal, Colombia, and Uzbekistan.
The diagnosis: experts have said most of Nigeria’s struggles have been attributed to administrative instability rather than a lack of footballing quality. We have the players. We don’t have the system. We have an unaccountable and untouchable system.
The talent paradox: Osimhen watches, Balogun Scores. While Osimhen says “I feel bad not playing at 2026 World Cup”, Folarin Balogun scores twice for the United States in a World Cup opener.
Balogun was born in the U.S. to Nigerian parents, raised in England. He chose America. That choice is America’s gain. And, respectfully, it is also Nigeria’s loss”. He is not alone. The 2026 World Cup has no fewer than fifteen players of Nigerian heritage representing other nations. Nigeria is absent on the fixture list, but Nigeria is not absent from the World Cup.
Our sons play for England, Germany, Canada, the U.S, France, Switzerland, Austria, even South Africa, etc. Our sound fills stadiums. Our flag is missing. That is not just failure. It is systemic leakage.
Where smaller nations did what we could not: The Cape Verde lessons:
Cape Verde has about 600,000 people. It is 4,033 square kilometers. It has limited freshwater, little fertile land and few mineral resources. Yet Cape Verde is at the World Cup. And their goalkeeper is receiving global attention just for his spectacular first match performance.
How? At qualification series, they topped a group with Cameroon, Angola, Libya, Eswatini, Mauritius. They went 7-2-1, beat Eswatini 3-0 to qualify on October 13. They won all five home games without conceding. They drew 0-0 with European champions Spain on their World Cup debut.
It is obvious that Cape Verde has built a football ecosystem capable of competing despite limited domestic market, geographic fragmentation, high travel costs, small player pool. They did not copy more developed nations. They designed a football system around its realities.
They turned “remoteness into a football development strategy”. They tracked diaspora talent in Portugal, Netherlands, France. They are ranked 69th, but they are in Group H with Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia. Cape Verde has 505,044 residents. 1.5 million live abroad. They organised that diaspora. We have 220 million at home and 17 million abroad. We disorganise ours.
‘Morocco built facilities. We built excuses’
Morocco is ranked 7th in the world. They reached a World Cup semi-final in 2022 when Qatar was the host. They qualified for 2026 on September 5, 2025. They already drew with the almighty Brazil in their first match in 2026.
How? They have built the Mohammed VI Football Complex. A $65 million national training centre. 30 pitches. Covered stadium. Medical centre. University. They host CAF, FIFA events. They plan.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s national stadium in Abuja has been closed for repairs more times than it has hosted qualifiers. The pitch in Uyo is good. The travel, camping, bonuses, technical crew — chaos. “Administrative instability” kills talent. What happened to Teslim Balogun, Onikan stadiums in Lagos? What about the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan?
We have Osimhen, Lookman, Boniface, Iwobi, Ndidi, Bassey, Aina, Chukwueze, Onyeka, Ajayi. On paper, a Round of 16 team. On grass, we lost to DR Congo on penalties after finishing second to South Africa.
The coaching carousel:
Why we can’t hire — or Keep — a world-class coach? Since 2018, Nigeria has had Gernot Rohr, Augustine Eguavoen twice, José Peseiro, Finidi George, and Eric Chelle. Chelle beat Gabon in the playoff semi, but could not get past DR Congo. The NFF sacks, hires, owes salaries, interferes. World-class coaches want structure, not drama. We offer drama.
Meanwhile, South Africa stuck with Hugo Broos. Morocco with Walid Regragui. Senegal with Aliou Cissé. Cape Verde with Bubista since 2020. Continuity breeds qualification.
Our coaching is not just about the man on the bench. It is about the men in the Glass House. When the NFF challenged DR Congo’s qualification, FIFA dismissed it. That is energy spent on petitions, not pitches.
Football as diplomacy,
business, public relations: we lost all.
Diplomacy: The World Cup is 48 nations in one place. Presidents meet. Deals are done. Nigeria’s seat is empty. When South Africa played host in 2010, it reset global perception. In 2026, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ivory Coast, South Africa, DR Congo, Cape Verde are flying Africa’s flag. The most populous black nation is missing.
Business: The 2026 World Cup is the most lucrative edition to date. Each qualified team gets millions before a ball is kicked. Players’ market value jumps 30% after a good tournament. Sponsors pay. Tourism spikes. Nigeria gets zero. Instead, we watch Rema trend at stadiums we should be playing in.
Public relations: At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the message was clear: Nigeria may not have been represented on the field, but its sound was impossible to ignore. That is public relations by accident. We need public relations by design. Football washes a nation’s face. Ours remains dirty.
Identity: This is a World Cup for participants who haven’t had the opportunity of playing in the tournament. “I would have loved to see a top team like Nigeria there because they’ve got some great individuals. They’re a great nation”. John Terry said it. The world knows it. We are a great nation in absentia.
The darkness over the black race?
When Brazil is at the World Cup, black Brazilians celebrate. If France wins with Mbappé, Olise, Camavinga, Dembele, etc the diaspora will celebrate. When Cape Verde drew Spain, 600,000 people stood taller.
Nigeria is 1 in 5 Africans. 1 in 6 black people globally. When we miss the World Cup, the psychological deficit is continental. Young kids in Lagos, Accra, Kingston, Salvador wear Osimhen shirts. They expected to see him against Mexico, not watch his livestream frustration.
“Every man got a right to decide his own destiny,” Bob Marley said. Balogun decided his. What about the destiny of 220 million Nigerians who just want to see their team? We denied them. That is darkness.
It is not just the men: the pattern repeats
The U-17 team did not qualify for the third consecutive tournament. Record champions, missing. The U-20 women qualified, but the pipeline is leaking. If we cannot get the foundation right, the roof will keep collapsing.
The tragedy in three acts:
Act 1: The players: Osimhen: “We’ve missed out twice in a row”. He is 27. He may never play a World Cup. That is generational theft.
Act 2: The nation: We are “the second-highest-ranked team not participating”. Ranked 26th, behind Denmark at 21st. Too good to miss, yet we missed.
Act 3: The future: 2026 had 9+1 slots for Africa. We could not grab one. 2030 will be in Morocco, Portugal, Spain. Closer (to) home. If we miss that, shame becomes stigma.
Turning reproach to redemption?
End administrative instability: The NFF needs independent directors, fixed tenure, financial transparency. No more “emergency” committees.
Build facilities: One Mohammed VI Complex equivalent in Abuja. Six regional centres and pitches that won’t embarrass us.
Hire and back a coach: Give a 4-year contract. No interference. Pay on time. Pick one: European tactician or proven African. Then shut up and support.
Organise the diaspora: Cape Verde did it. We have Balogun, Akpom, Olise, Eze, Musiala, Saka, Tomori, Udogie, Adarabioyo, Alaba, Promise, Akanji, etc. Some are gone. Some are 50-50. Create a real “Diaspora Desk” with FIFA-compliant switching, not Twitter begging.
Respect the local league: No country qualifies without a domestic base. NPFL must have TV, VAR, salaries paid. Players should move from Enyimba to Europe, not from street to Europe.
Treat football as foreign policy: The National Sports Commission should sit in FEC with Foreign Affairs. When we host qualifiers, the president or his men should attend. When we win, we leverage.
We can’t normalise the shame. Nigeria missed 2022. Nigeria missed 2026. If we miss 2030, an entire generation — Osimhen, Chukwueze, Lookman — retires without a World Cup. That is not just shameful. It is unforgivable.
But that should make our leaders angry. Not performative anger for cameras. Not anger that finds a scapegoat and moves on. The cold anger that audits everything. The anger that asks: How does Morocco build a $65 million football academy while we can’t keep grass green in Abuja? How does Cape Verde, with “limited freshwater, little fertile land and few mineral resources”, organise a diaspora and qualify, while we leak talent to England, Germany, and the United States? Instead, we got silence. No emergency session at the National Assembly. No presidential address. No resignations at the NFF.
The students, the fans, too, have gone quiet. They mocked the draw with Lesotho in 2023. They raged after DR Congo knocked us out on penalties in 2025. But by June 2026, the rage had curdled into memes. At least Rema is playing in the stadium. We laughed. We scrolled past. We accepted. A people can survive bad leaders. They cannot survive the death of their own anger.
Yes, football is not life and death. But for a country fighting poverty, insecurity, and bad headlines, football is hope. Football is the one thing we agree on. Sadly, that has been taken away. When will Abuja get angry about our reproachful situation?
– Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sunday. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.