The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has expressed disappointment over Nigeria’s absence from the 2026 World Cup, urging former Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo to convey the feelings of Nigerians to the national team.
Wike spoke on Wednesday during the commissioning of the Gwagwalada-Kuje Road project, where Yobo was among the dignitaries in attendance.
The minister said Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the tournament was difficult to accept, considering the country’s football pedigree and the number of players of Nigerian heritage competing at the World Cup.
“Yes, we have congratulated one of our stars, Joseph Yobo. But let me use this medium through you to tell the Super Eagles: we are not happy,” Wike said while addressing Yobo.
“If nobody else will tell you that—because I saw people clapping for you the moment they saw the Super Eagles—I said, ‘I won’t clap.’ I won’t clap because I watch the World Cup. I see countries I have never heard of before qualifying to play in the World Cup, and I am sitting down for hours watching countries that are completely unknown.
“In this contest, we have no less than 13 top Nigerian players playing all over the world, but here we are; we did not qualify. Yobo, go and tell them. We are not happy.”
Nigeria failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup after losing to DR Congo in the African play-off tournament last year.
The Super Eagles, who made their World Cup debut in 1994, reached the play-offs after missing out on an automatic qualification place despite defeating Benin Republic 4-0 in their final qualifying match.
They progressed to the African play-offs as one of the four best second-placed teams. Nigeria defeated Gabon in the opening play-off fixture but lost to DR Congo in a penalty shootout.
The result handed DR Congo a place in the intercontinental play-offs, where the Central Africans secured one of the two available tickets to the World Cup.