Former NFF Boss Amaju Pinnick Blames Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup Miss on New Qualification Format

Former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has reportedly argued that the Super Eagles’ failure to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup was influenced by the revamped qualification format introduced for the tournament.

According to multiple reports, Pinnick suggested that Nigeria would have secured a World Cup spot had FIFA retained the qualification structure used for the 2018 edition.

Pinnick shared his views on Monday during the Big Sport Dialogue event in Ikoyi, where he was engaged in a frank discussion with Abayomi Ogunjimi, National President of the Authentic Nigeria Football and Allied Sports Supporters Club.

Addressing criticism over Nigeria’s recent World Cup setback, Pinnick said:

“You said we did not qualify under me. We did not lose, and we did not win.
If they had followed the same format they followed in 2018 — where we were in the most difficult group in the history of football with Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Algeria — we had two games to spare and qualified for the World Cup.”

Nigeria’s latest attempt to reach the global tournament ended in heartbreak. The Super Eagles defeated Gabon 4–0 in the semi-finals of the African playoffs but later lost 4–3 on penalties to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the final, ending their hopes of appearing at the 2026 World Cup.