Amaju Pinnick, former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, has claimed that the Super Eagles of Nigeria would have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup if he were still in charge of Nigerian football.
Pinnick, who served as NFF president from October 2014 to October 2022, oversaw Nigeria’s successful qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia but also endured the disappointment of missing out on the 2022 finals in Qatar following a playoff defeat to Ghana.
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Expanded World Cup Format Should Have Favoured Nigeria
Speaking during Sunday Oliseh’s Global Football Insights show, the former CAF vice president expressed surprise that Nigeria failed to capitalise on the expanded World Cup format, which allows up to ten African nations to qualify for the tournament to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“I didn’t see it coming because ten teams from Africa will qualify,” Pinnick said.
“In 2018, we had the toughest group ever; we had all the AFCON winners. If I were there, definitely, Nigeria would have qualified.”
Revisiting the 2018 Qualification Success
The 55-year-old football administrator recalled how the Super Eagles sealed qualification for the 2018 World Cup with two matches to spare despite being drawn in a formidable group.
“Algeria hadn’t lost in over 20 games, Cameroon were defending champions, Zambia were champions, and Nigeria was the least considered,” he said. “But guess what? We qualified with two games to spare, and we didn’t sleep.”
Pain of the 2022 Ghana Playoff Defeat
Reflecting on the 2022 World Cup playoff loss to Ghana, Pinnick noted that Nigeria were eliminated on the away goals rule after a tense two-legged tie, despite not losing either match.
“We didn’t win, but we didn’t lose; we were knocked out by the away goals rule,” he said. “I took responsibility then, and I take responsibility now.”
‘It Still Haunts Me’ — Pinnick on 2026 Failure
Despite that setback, Pinnick maintained that the failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup was avoidable, particularly given the increased number of African slots.
“Till today, it still haunts me that Nigeria didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” he added. “I felt really bad. Nigeria should forgive us.”
