“They will regret” – Ex-Super Eagles star speaks on Nigeria’s World Cup miss

Former Super Eagles and Everton striker Yakubu has weighed in on Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Afrik Foot reports.

The 43-year-old represented Nigeria at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, where he became most-famous for the huge miss against South Korea.

Now retired, the ex-Maccabi Haifa forward has sent out a note to the current crop of Nigerian players, telling them they’ll regret not qualifying for the World Cup.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni weighs in on Super Eagles’ World Cup miss

Fourth on Nigeria’s all-time goal scorers list, the Blackburn Rovers cult-hero revealed that a nation of such huge status on the African continent should not be missing out on consecutive World Cup tournaments.

“Of course, I’m disappointed. It’s two in a row now, we didn’t go to Qatar, and now we’re missing the one in America. It’s massive,” the 95-goal Premeir League striker said on the Clutch 9 Football podcast.

“You’ve seen some of these boys from the Premier League who will not be at the World Cup.

“In the next four years, there’ll be a pool of younger talents coming up. I was lucky to play in 2010, I know what it means to represent your country at the World Cup. It’s special.

“For these boys, they probably think it’s okay, but some of them might never play at the World Cup.

“A few years ago I was playing, now, I’m retired, it’s all so quick. They will regret it. Like Victor Osimhen who’s scoring so much in Galatasaray and won’t be at the World Cup.

“He’s 27, he won’t be the same player in the next three years. A younger striker will come up. He might never get that chance again,” Yakubu Aiyegbeni concluded.

Yakubu also weighed in on CAF’s decision to strip Senegal of their AFCON 2025 title, claiming it was preposterous.