AFCON victory can make up for World Cup miss – Former Nigerian star tells Super Eagles

The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after their play-off loss to DR Congo last month, Soccernet.ng reports.

Ahead of the AFCON 2025 competition, the team captain, William Troost-Ekong, has announced his retirement. Still, former Nigerian winger, Tijani Babangida, believes the Super Eagles can make retribution for their World Cup demise with victory in Morocco.

Eric Chelle has named a 54-man preliminary squad, although a final cut is expected in the coming days as preparations begin for the showdown in Morocco.

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Babangida weighs in on Nigeria's World Cup miss

Tijani Babangida was a part of the Nigerian team that won the 1996 Olympic Gold in Atlanta, but revealed that the disappointment with the World Cup failure resonates across all Nigerians across the world.

“I think that after the unfortunate experience of missing the FIFA World Cup back-to-back, it is still very painful to digest this reality,” the former Ajax man said in an interview with Tribal Football.

“However, the next target is the AFCON tournament, which can be used to redeem the image of Nigerian football.

“For NFF, the players and football stakeholders, all we have now is the AFCON. So, we have to do everything we can to win the tournament.

“The tournament will not be easy; all the major African teams that qualified for the 2026 World Cup are also there, but the Super Eagles may surprise the world and go all the way.

“I think the team can bring the Cup back to Nigeria after more than 12 years. I see Nigeria playing in the final, at least, and anything can happen in a cup final.

“Super Eagles played in the final of the last edition. The team lost to Cote d'Ivoire 2-1.

AFCON victory can make up for World Cup miss

Missing two World Cups is a disappointment to the Nigerian populace, but the one-time Eredivisie winner is confident that winning a fourth AFCON trophy in Morocco will atone for that.

“From what I gathered here in the Netherlands, where I am currently, Nigerian fans all over the world are not happy at all that the Super Eagles missed out on the World Cup for the second time in a row.

“We have so many Nigerians living in the United States, Europe and the ones back home that were waiting to support, cheer the Super Eagles in the US.

“I watched online how some young Nigerian football fans were crying after the team lost the play-offs to Congo in Morocco.

“The reality of missing the FIFA World Cup is very hard on the fans, and I hope this AFCON will be great for the Super Eagles and they will use it to cheer the fans who suffered heartbreak when the team lost to Congo.

“If the Super Eagles win the AFCON, I can boldly tell you that the team will be forgiven for the pain of losing the World Cup ticket, and this will also send a message that the team only had a rough path during the World Cup qualifiers.

“Winning the AFCON will bring the fans and the players together.

“It will send the message to the world that Nigeria is the best in Africa, and we can use it as a springboard to start the process of qualifying for the 2030 World Cup,” Babangida concluded.

Nigeria have been drawn into AFCON 2025 Group C alongside Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda. They kick off their campaign by facing Tanzania on the 23rd of December at the Complexe Sportif de Fès in Fez, Morocco.