Aftermath of Nigeria’s 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Sports Journalists have expressed their disappointment in the Super Eagles showing against the Warriors.
Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle enjoyed a mixed start to life as the coach of the team in the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda, and Zimbabwe as the team could only earn four points from two matches.
The first match against Rwanda drew praises from Nigerians after Victor Osimhen scored a brace to hand Super Eagles their first-ever win in the country.
The praises quickly turned to criticisms, anger, and frustration following a disappointing performance in the 1-1 against Zimbabwe in Uyo four days later.
The team failed to hold on to the lead after Osimhen had opened the scoring in the 74th minute before Zimbabwe stunned the vociferous Nigerian fans in the Godswill Akpabio Stadium with a 90th minute equaliser.
BBC Sports’ Shina Okeleji was disappointed with the team’s performance, demanding more from the players while urging the Nigeria Football Federation to discard players who are not committed to the team.
He said: “The game against Rwanda was the first time Eric Chelle was taking charge of the team in a competitive game, the system, the style, the selection, and the diamond formation was quite strange to the players, it takes a lot of intensity.
“Some people were not comfortable with the way they played against Rwanda but they won, if they had taken their chances they could have buried the game against Zimbabwe.
“They were unlucky, a serious team would have been punished.”
Okeleji urged Chelle to work on the team’s energy.
“The Super Eagles have shown in the last couple of years that some of them don’t really deserve it, and some of them have passed their prime. They are struggling to understand the intensity, some people still feel like they will always get a call up to the team whether or not they are in good shape. It’s not a matter of experience, it’s about understanding the demands of playing for the team. We need to drop some players for them to understand what is required of them.”
Okeleji was pessimistic about the Super Eagles chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
“It is very hard when you look at the way it is, they will need to qualify automatically to win that ticket, second place might not be enough because when you look at the slots available, only four best performing teams will be picked, and Nigeria only has seven points, which means they have to win all their games and hope something goes wrong for South Africa or any of the other teams competing for the ticket.
“For them to qualify, it means something has to go bad for other teams. It means we are waiting for a miracle but not when your destiny is no longer in your own hands even if they win their four matches and South Africa wins three of their matches, they won’t get the ticket ahead of South Africa. You can’t be so sure because the team is struggling to win matches.”
Okeleji blamed the Nigeria Football Federation for the poor showing in the World Cup qualifiers.
“When fighting for a national team shirt is not competitive enough you have average players parading themselves as superstars until these problems are sorted, Nigerian football is going nowhere, missing two consecutive World Cup tournaments is a disaster.”
Similarly, the secretary to The Sports Writer Association of Nigeria Lagos State chapter, Oni Afolabi blamed Eric Chelle for the disappointing result against Zimbabwe, while urging Nigerians to buy calculators and pray for the team to qualify for the World Cup.
“The first 15 minutes of the first half was action packed, while they struggled to get back to the form that got them the victory against Rwanda for the better parts of the game.
“The option that Tolu Arokodare seems to offer upfront gladdens my heart. The attacking outlook of the team under Chelle is a sweet poison. It can work well for us if mastered while the coach also needs to know when to secure the point and go defensive even with a small goal margin.
“You cannot fault the players for their commitment. We need to accept the fact that international games are different from club football. At their various clubs, players train daily and accelerate their team chemistry unlike on national assignments when players just have 2 or 3 training sessions before an important game.
“The poor result was Chelle’s fault. He failed to manage the game well. When we needed to shut up shop by introducing more defenders, he was looking for more goals.
“Let us go and buy a calculator and pray that other teams like Rwanda, Benin Republic and South Africa stumble while we win our remaining games. If not, we need to start preparing for the 2030 world cup qualifiers.”
Sports Journalist Enitan Obadina didn’t hold back in his criticism of the Super Eagles, blaming the team’s weak defense, struggling midfield and blunt attack.
He said: “Nothing has really changed in the super eagles despite the change in coaching. The same problem persists with a weak defense, struggling midfield and a blunt attack. They showed flashes against Rwanda but when they came up against a team with better organization, we struggled.
“Chelle was flexible with his formation but that flexibility came with a flaw of how many players he played in the midfield. Using two midfielders was his major undoing and one of the two wingers to complement the midfield didn’t understand the assignment. He also played players out of position which didn’t turn out well.”
Obadina highlighted the solution to the perceived lack of commitment from the players.
He said, “Competition is the solution. It didn’t start with him, the commitment issues started under Gernot Rohr and it was down to some players becoming untouchable whether they performed or not. Healthy competition and opening up invitations will ginger the boys. We have quality but not in all positions and commitment is a general problem”
However, Sports Broadcaster, Olusola Adebayo was impressed with the team’s bonding and unity under Eric Chelle, claiming that he is a good coach.
He said: “The bonding of the players. I can see unity and new energy for success, his tactics have been fine so far and we can’t still rate him for now. Let’s watch how the team reacts after this setback in Uyo.
“I think he is a good coach who was let down by his players’ loss of concentration. He needs to check that part of the game and keep the players on their toes for ninety minutes.
“The solution to the seemingly lack of commitment from the players is to expand our scouting network to accommodate talented and hungry players. Let the coach increase the competition for fighting in the camp by giving all the equal chances to fight for the starting shirt.
“It’s pretty difficult to say if we can qualify now. Let’s wait and see. They need to win the remaining games and wait for results elsewhere to come in their favour.
Adebayo blamed the players’ lack of focus for the draw against Zimbabwe, while urging the NFF to provide a psychologist for the team.
Sport Consultant Suara Abass questioned the quality of the Super Eagles players following their poor performance against Zimbabwe.
He said, “I watched both games closely; one recurring concern was lack of quality. I observed multiple wingers that sailed aimlessly, more like missiles fired into the sky than purposeful crosses aimed at teammates. It left me asking a difficult question: Are these the same professionals we see week in and week out in Europe’s top leagues, where technical precision is a given, not a luxury?
“Something clearly shifts when these players put on the national team jersey. The fluidity, awareness, and sharpness seen at club level often give way to misplaced passes, unnecessary running, or moments of flat-footed hesitation.
“This inconsistency is not new sadly; it has become a recurring theme where many of our players exhibit dual identities depending on the jersey they wear.”
However, Abass also revealed that the players’ commitment is not in doubt but their level of quality is not enough.
He said, “In Nigeria, commitment is not the issue—quality is. Commitment alone does not produce results. Even a technically limited player can be highly committed; however, that alone won’t change the outcome of a game.
“Football at this level demands far more. It requires quality, technical skill, tactical intelligence, and most importantly, role specialization. What we are witnessing far too often now is a reliance on makeshift solutions—players being deployed in roles for which they are not naturally suited, inevitably leading to underperformance.
“This should not occur in a country with over 200 million people. Can we not find 1 million people, which is less than 1% of the population, who play football? The notion that we cannot assemble a team with each player specifically skilled for a position to perform at their highest level is simply unacceptable.
“We must urgently expand and develop our talent pool. This involves reinvesting in grassroots football and revitalizing our youth programs. Nigeria has the numbers. We need the structure, vision, and commitment at the institutional level to ensure we are never again forced into a situation where mediocrity is patched over with hope.”
While some Nigerians are hoping that the Super Eagles will get one of the second-best runners-up spots to qualify for the World Cup, realistically, as it stands now the team is not well placed to pick one of the slots.
CAF World Cup Qualifiers Format
10 African teams will participate in the FIFA World Cup scheduled for 2026 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The winner of each group will directly qualify for the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will participate in play-offs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
The four best group runners-up will be drawn into play-offs to determine the CAF representative at the inter-confederation play-offs. A total of three matches will be played in November 2025.
Based on the results in the last phase of the qualifiers in March, there are seven teams who are better placed than the Super Eagles, occupying the playoff positions.
Teams Occupying The Seven Play Off Spots
Gabon – 15 points
Cameroon – 12 points
Senegal – 12 points
Namibia – 12 points
Comoros – 12 points
Mozambique – 12 points
Burkina Faso – 11 points
The Super Eagles can only boast of seven points from six matches to sit in the fourth position with South Africa topping the group with 13 points.
Eric Chelle’s side need to win all their remaining four matches and hope results favour them elsewhere to stand a chance of qualifying for the Mundial.
The Super Eagles will be back in action in a friendly match against Russia on June 6 before taking on Rwanda, and South Africa in September in the World Cup qualifiers.
