As the Super Eagles’ camp opens this Monday in Uyo, ahead of their double-fixtures in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, a former captain of the side, Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh, has warned the players about what they stand to lose if they fail to pick a ticket to the Mundial.
Sports247 reports that the Eagles lie fourth on their group’s qualification table ahead of this Saturday’s home fixture versus Rwanda and away to South Africa on September 9th, thereby making both matches must-win games for Eric Chelle’s team.
However, with South Africa top of the group on 13 points, with both of their upcoming games slated for Bloemfontein, they are bound to remain ahead of Nigeria, even if FIFA eventually deducts three points from their haul, thereby leaving the Eagles empty-handed again.
Oliseh took a closer look at the tight scenario and pointed out that the most telling effect of Nigeria failing to qualify for the second straight World Cup in a row would be very low ratings for the country’s players in the international transfer window.
He recounted, “In the past, when you spoke about top clubs that you watched week in week out, we saw Kanu Nwankwo playing in Arsenal and Jay Jay shining at Paris Saint-Germain.
“We saw Taribo West doing his thing at Inter Milan and later at AC Milan. We also saw Finidi George and Babangida at Ajax; while I was personally at Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Juventus.”
Oliseh, who also starred for AC Regianna in Italy as well as VfL Bochum in Germany and was part of Nigeria’s first World Cup team at USA ’94, after which he featured in the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games gold medal-winning under-23 squad, pointed out that the Eagles’ poor results in recent years have blocked lucrative transfer offers for the country’s players.
“We had players that you saw week in week out at top clubs or playing in the Champions League. Now we have none. Why is that happening? It’s simple … our national team is no longer performing. Good clubs buy players based on your national team’s performances,” Oliseh argued.
‘The Passmaster’ concluded by making suggestions on the way forward, affirming how the trend can change, as he stressed: “If you do well at the World Cup, top clubs will eye you, because that’s the barometer for players’ transfers
