Former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Pinnick, has said the Super Eagles would have secured a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup if he were still in charge of Nigerian football administration.
Pinnick made the claim during an interview on Sunday Oliseh’s Global Football Insights show, where he expressed disappointment that Nigeria has struggled in the qualifiers despite the expanded World Cup format, which allows up to 10 African teams to qualify for the tournament to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Speaking on the issue of Pinnick Nigeria World Cup qualification, the former NFF boss said Nigeria had no excuse to miss out under the new system.
“I honestly didn’t see this coming. With 10 African teams qualifying, there is really no basis for Nigeria not to be among them,” Pinnick said.
He recalled how Nigeria qualified for the 2018 World Cup from what he described as one of the toughest groups in African football history.
“In 2018, we had the toughest group ever; we had all the AFCON winners. If I were there, definitely, Nigeria would have qualified,” he stated.
Pinnick added that Algeria were on a long unbeaten run at the time, while Cameroon and Zambia were reigning African champions, yet Nigeria still emerged from the group with games to spare.
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“We qualified with two matches left and we didn’t sleep,” he said.
On the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Pinnick said Nigeria narrowly missed out after losing to Ghana in the playoffs on the away-goals rule, stressing that the team was not beaten outright.
“We did the same work in 2022, but the format changed to head-to-head. Nobody gave Ghana a chance, but they came through. We didn’t lose that tie; we were eliminated on away goals,” he explained.
He maintained that Nigeria’s current struggles highlight the importance of strong football administration, noting that Pinnick Nigeria World Cup qualification was achieved in the past through planning and organisation.
Pinnick concluded by insisting that with proper leadership and structure, the Super Eagles should be among Africa’s qualifiers for the 2026 tournament, adding that Pinnick Nigeria World Cup qualification remains a benchmark for what is possible.