President of the Nigeria Football Federation Ibrahim Gusau insists the Super Eagles will make it to the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico despite their uninspiring run in the qualifying series, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Gusau said this on Thursday after the emergency meeting with the Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, who summoned the NFF to submit a technical report on the matches.
After four rounds of matches, Nigeria are fifth in Group C with three points and trail leaders Rwanda, South Africa and Benin Republic by four points each, while Lesotho also sit above them with a two-point gap.
In their latest matches in the series, they were held 1-1 by South Africa in Uyo last Friday before suffering a 2-1 defeat against the Benin Republic in Abidjan, the Cheetahs’ adopted home on Monday.
The latest results forced the Minister of Sports Development John Enoh to summon the NFF and coach Finidi George to submit a technical report on the matches.
Arising from the meeting, which was said to have lasted about three hours with the minister, Gusau addressed journalists but failed to comment on the fate of coach Finidi George in the heat of the latest results.
“It’s a very sad moment for Nigerian football, we can’t run away from that but I want to assure you that we are working tirelessly in conjunction with the minister to see that we come out with holistic measures that will change the face of the entire system so that we can move forward,” Gusau said via Football Temple.
“It is still possible and we are going to make it. I just want to assure you that Nigeria will qualify for the World Cup. Very soon you are going to see the measures that NFF will come out with and those measures will lead us to qualify for the World Cup.”
While the draws for the 2025 AFCON will also be made next month, Gusau added that the body’s move will begin to yield results from the AFCON qualifiers which will begin in September.
