Wilfred Ndidi, a midfielder for the Super Eagles, has given his teammates the objective of using the boost that the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualification ticket has given them and making sure that they focus all of their energy on the remaining 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Ndidi acknowledged that the players had put themselves in danger, but he cautioned that ineligibility for the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be a huge blow to Nigerian football and the players, who might not get the opportunity to play again.
As Ndidi reflected on the team’s challenging qualifying situation, he said as much in a chat with his Super Eagles teammate Kenneth Omeruo on X (previously Twitter).
“We know we’re in a tough and important situation, and we can’t afford to let this slip because if some players don’t play in this World Cup, there may not be another opportunity to go to the next World Cup,” Ndidi said.
As of right now, the Super Eagles are four points behind joint leaders Rwanda, South Africa, and the Benin Republic in Group C, with three points from four games. Nigeria will play their next games on March 17 in Kigali, Rwanda, and seven days later, in Uyo, Zimbabwe.
“We put ourselves into this situation because we didn’t do well in the previous games, but I feel like the qualifying games for the AFCON and qualifying for the AFCON have created a new confidence in the team already to actually push towards qualifying for the World Cup,” Ndidi further lamented.
Following his failure to qualify for Qatar 2022, the Leicester City midfielder emphasized the need to make a quick turnaround in order to avoid missing another World Cup.
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I didn’t have the chance to go to the World Cup in Qatar; my most recent attendance was in 2018. According to his hypothesis, some of the players that competed in 2018 are no longer even on the national squad.
We must treat this with seriousness. The desire of every player to participate in the World Cup cannot be ignored. We can’t accept that.”
Ndidi believes the team has the quality and mind-set to get back on track but insists that the players must show their best performances in the remaining matches.
“There’s no excuse going forward. We just have to show our qualities and get the points as much as we can,” he concluded.
