Tremendous Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi has expressed hope that Nigeria can nonetheless qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the crew’s marketing campaign.
The Fulham participant admitted that the nationwide crew is presently in a ready place as Nigeria hopes for a doable lifeline to the event, which will probably be hosted by america, Canada and Mexico.
Talking in an interview, Iwobi mirrored on the emotional weight of probably lacking the World Cup and was requested whether or not he would like to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations or qualify for the World Cup.
The 29-year-old, who represented Nigeria on the 2018 World Cup in Russia, stated the choice was not a simple one and positioned the concentrate on his teammates fairly than himself.
“I imply we’re nonetheless ready, effectively hopefully we are able to go to the World Cup, however I really feel it’s a troublesome one. It’s a troublesome one as a result of profitable AFCON is like… It’s an ideal legacy, it’s an ideal factor to have like in your profession, a memorable second,” Iwobi stated.
“However then on the identical time, as a result of I’ve been to the World Cup already, plenty of the gamers haven’t been. They want to say ‘I need to go to the World Cup,’ so I can’t be egocentric and say win the AFCON and for my teammates to not go to the World Cup. So it’s a troublesome one. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Iwobi’s cautious optimism displays the overall temper inside the Nigeria Soccer Federation, which is awaiting a choice from FIFA following a petition over Nigeria’s World Cup qualification play-off defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We’re nonetheless ready. Hopefully we are able to go to the World Cup,” the midfielder added.
Nigeria’s hopes had been dealt a blow after a penalty shootout loss to DR Congo on the Moulay Hassan Stadium in November. Nonetheless, the Tremendous Eagles’ qualification probabilities might not but be over.
The NFF has submitted a proper grievance to FIFA, alleging that DR Congo fielded as much as six ineligible gamers through the decisive match. The case relies on what the federation describes as a “twin nationality entice”, arguing that whereas FIFA guidelines permit nationality switches, the Congolese structure doesn’t allow twin citizenship.
NFF Normal Secretary, Dr Sanusi Mohammed, has said that the federation believes it has a robust case.
Regardless of the uncertainty, Nigeria stay one among Africa’s most gifted groups and lately completed third on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, maintaining hopes alive for a return to the World Cup stage.
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