Amaju Pinnick, the former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, believes the Super Eagles’ failure to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup was influenced by the new qualification format.
“You said we did not qualify under me. We did not lose, and we did not win. If they had followed the same format they followed in 2018 — where we were in the most difficult group in the history of football with Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Algeria — we had two games to spare and qualified for the World Cup,” Pinnick said at a Sports dialogue in Ikoyi.
The Super Eagles lost to DR Congo in the playoff final, marking their first back-to-back absence from the World Cup since 1994.
The team will now focus on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
DR Congo will face an intercontinental playoff winner for a World Cup spot.
