2026 World Cup: Former Al-Ittihad defender points fingers following Super Eagles absence – ‘They’re at fault’

Former Super Eagles and Al-Ittihad defender Chikelue Iloenyosi has revealed he has renewed anger directed towards the Nigerian National team for missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 2026 edition, jointly hosted by Canada, the United States of America and Mexico, has had several spectacular moments, one of which the Super Eagles could've been a part of if they qualified.

What makes Nigeria's position worse is that ten African Nations are competing at the Copa Mundial, the highest number since the inception of the tournament.

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Chikelue Iloenyosi laments Super Eagles' World Cup absence

The four-cap Super Eagles defender, in an interview with Ay Shuga, hit out at the players for their failure to do what was needed to qualify for the World Cup.

“How can I be happy? Players are feeling very, very bad, of course. If they have a chance to be in the World Cup, they will be in the World Cup to prove themselves,” the 47-year-old said.

The three-time African Champions had three coaches during the World Cup qualifiers, and while many have blamed the team's failure to qualify on coaching inconsistency, the former Al-Ittihad defender opined that the players are the real culprits.

“Some people in the national team might not see the World Cup again because of their age.

“I'm not happy we did not qualify for the World Cup because we've gotten a coach that came to stabilise the team.

“If you see the standard of the games we are playing now, you can know the coach wants the team to improve. Unfortunately, we did not qualify for the World Cup.

“Why we did not qualify for the World Cup is the players. It's the fault of the players because you can see the games, they are even blaming themselves. They are not happy.”

With the World Cup dream over, the Super Eagles can look forward to the AFCON 2027 qualifiers set to kick off in September. They've been drawn into Group L alongside Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar and Tanzania.