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By Oscar Okhifo
Former Super Eagles captain Obi Mikel on Friday called for the resignation of the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation following the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the tournament, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, ended after the Super Eagles lost to the DR Congo national football team in a tense penalty shootout during the qualifiers in November 2025.
The elimination means Nigeria will miss the World Cup for the second consecutive time, having also failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Since making their debut at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, the Super Eagles had previously missed only the 2006 and 2022 editions.
Speaking in an interview with talkSPORT on Friday, Mikel, who earned 89 caps for Nigeria and represented the country at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, said officials in charge of Nigerian football must take responsibility for what he described as a disastrous campaign.
“It’s a hammer blow and I’ve said it so many times that when you have a country as big as we do, over 300 million people, the biggest country in Africa and we’re not going to the World Cup for a second time in a row, the FA, the people that are running the FA should all resign,” Mikel said.
“They have to resign because it’s the second time that it’s happened. We have one of the best teams in Africa and we’re not going to be at the World Cup. It’s a disaster. It’s a disaster.”
The former midfielder also singled out the leadership of the NFF president, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, insisting that those managing the federation must step aside.
“So the people running the FA, the president of the FA, the organisation people, they have to resign because African football is growing so much and we are being left behind. Nigeria’s been left behind.
“We should be leading the way. Look at what Morocco is doing with their team, with their country. They’re growing; they’re developing and we keep going backwards time after time,” he added.
There has been no official response from the Nigeria Football Federation or other key stakeholders regarding Mikel’s call as of the time of filing this report. However, the federation, popularly known as the Glass House and the National Sports Commission had at various times apologised to Nigerians and the Federal Government of Nigeria over the national team’s failure to secure qualification for the 2026 World Cup.