Pinnick Claims Eagles Would Have Reached 2026 World Cup Under His Watch
Former Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick, has said the Super Eagles would not be struggling in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers if he were still leading Nigerian football.
Pinnick, who served as NFF president between 2014 and 2022, made the remark while speaking on Sunday Oliseh’s Global Football Insights programme. He expressed surprise that Nigeria failed to maximise the expanded World Cup qualification slots available to African teams.
With Africa now guaranteed up to 10 places at the 2026 tournament, Pinnick said Nigeria’s situation was unexpected, noting that qualification should have been achievable. He pointed to his experience during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, when the Super Eagles progressed from what he described as an extremely difficult group.
Nigeria qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with two matches to spare despite facing former African champions Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia. Pinnick recalled that Nigeria entered the group as underdogs but still emerged successful through discipline and determination.
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The former CAF vice president also reflected on Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the Super Eagles were eliminated by Ghana in the final playoff round. He noted that both legs ended in draws, with Nigeria losing out on the away goals rule.
Pinnick said he accepted responsibility for that outcome at the time and maintained that position, while insisting that Nigeria’s current World Cup qualification challenges would have been avoided under his leadership.
