John Obi Mikel Calls for NFF Officials to Resign After Nigeria Misses 2026 World Cup

Former Nigeria national team captain, John Obi Mikel, has urged officials of the Nigeria Football Federation to step down following Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mikel, who earned 89 caps for Nigeria and represented the country at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, described the latest disappointment as extremely hard to accept. The former Chelsea midfielder emphasized that a nation with Nigeria’s population and football heritage should always compete on football’s biggest stage.

“It’s a hammer blow,” Mikel said. “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 the second time in a row.”

“I’ve said it so many times that the FA, the people that are running the FA, they should all resign,” Mikel stated. “They have to resign because it’s the second time it’s happened.”