Super Eagles: 3 pivotal moments that killed 2026 World Cup dream

We are calling it early: the Super Eagles will not be at the 2026 World Cup in [Canada, United States & Mexico].

Tuesday’s draw in Bloemfontein, in a match that Nigeria were condemned to win, has essentially doomed the three-time African champions. With their six-point advantage intact, South Africa now only need one point from their last two matches. And even if FIFA take away three points for the Teboho Mokoena infraction, four points from Zimbabwe and Rwanda is more than achievable for Hugo Broos’ men.

Make no mistake, though: while their fate was sealed in the Free State Stadium, the writing was on the wall long before that. And while there is a wider, overarching administrative failing to blame ultimately, here are three moments/results/choices that ended the Super Eagles’ World Cup aspirations. These are in no particular order.

Joe Aribo’s Butare miss costs Super Eagles

A barely believable draw at home against Lesotho had kicked off the series, but facing Zimbabwe in Butare, Rwanda a few days later was supposed to afford Nigeria the opportunity to properly kick off their campaign. 

What followed instead was 90 minutes of toil and frustration. After falling behind to a wonder free-kick from a different ZIP code, the Super Eagles struggled to get back into the match. In the 54th minute, however, they were awarded an indirect free-kick inside the Zimbabwean penalty area after the goalkeeper was adjudged to have caught a back pass.

With the Zimbabwe wall in disarray, the ball was passed to Aribo, who had almost the entire goal to aim at from about a metre away. Inexplicably, the midfielder struck a weak effort straight at a Zimbabwean defender on the other side of the goal, and the chance was gone.

Kelechi Iheanacho would later equalise but, on a day when chances were at a premium, that chance could have brought Nigeria back earlier and sparked a real turnaround.

The appointment of Finidi George

With the utmost respect to a legend of Nigerian football, Finidi simply was not ready for the responsibility of leading the Super Eagles. While he had won a league title with Enyimba, there was virtually no sample size in his brief coaching career to that point that suggested he should have been given the job.

Compounding matters was the process of his hiring: rather than make up their minds after the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), they dithered, first auditioning him and seemingly rejecting what they saw, then going on two-month search only to then hand him the reins ahead of a double header against the two strongest teams in the qualifying group. Hardly a ringing endorsement or sign of a competent Federation.

However, once in the role, Finidi showed his callowness with some of his decision-making, especially with respect to selections: the likes of Benjamin Tanimu and Sodiq Ismail may have the desire, but lack the quality to play on such a big stage. What’s worse: introducing them in those circumstances was too much upheaval too soon.

Ultimately, with one point from six matches, these choices would come back to bite the Super Eagles.

Eric Chelle’s disastrous Boniface sub

When Chelle was appointed, his remit was difficult but clear: he needed to win six matches out of six. He started well enough with a win over Rwanda in Kigali, and looked set to go two for two a few days later at home against Zimbabwe – with four minutes plus stoppage time to play, the Super Eagles were a goal up.

So, when the board went up to take off goalscorer Victor Osimhen, conventional wisdom suggested a defensive midfielder or centre-back coming on to protect the win, especially as Tolu Arokodare was already on the pitch.

Instead, the Malian coach made a like-for-like switch, subbing on Victor Boniface. In the moment, it seemed a ludicrous, potentially catastrophic decision; about five minutes later, that impression was proven right as Tawanda Chirewa ran through a gap in the defence to poke home a late equaliser. 

Sure, William Ekong should have done much better. However, that he was so exposed at all was down to Chelle’s naivety.