ABUJA — Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has expressed disappointment over Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, urging former Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, to convey the frustrations of Nigerians to the national team.

Wike spoke on Wednesday during the commissioning of the Gwagwalada-Kuje Road project in the FCT, where Yobo was among the dignitaries in attendance.

The minister said it was painful to watch countries with less football pedigree feature at the World Cup while Nigeria, despite its wealth of talent and global football reputation, would be absent from the tournament.

While acknowledging Yobo’s contributions to Nigerian football, Wike said many Nigerians remained unhappy with the Super Eagles’ failure to secure a place at the global football showpiece.

“Yes, we have congratulated one of our stars, Joseph Yobo. But let me use this medium through you to tell the Super Eagles: we are not happy,” Wike said.

“If nobody else will tell you that—because I saw people clapping for you the moment they saw the Super Eagles—I said, ‘I won’t clap.’ I won’t clap because I watch the World Cup. I see countries I have never heard of before qualifying to play in the World Cup, and I am sitting down for hours watching countries that are completely unknown.

“In this contest, we have no fewer than 13 top Nigerian players playing all over the world, yet we did not qualify. Yobo, go and tell them. We are not happy.”

The minister noted that Nigeria boasts some of the best football talents across major leagues worldwide and said the country’s absence from the tournament remained difficult for football-loving Nigerians to accept.

Nigeria will miss a second consecutive FIFA World Cup after failing to secure qualification for the 2026 tournament. The Super Eagles were eliminated during the African qualifying playoffs after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The three-time African champions had initially lost out on an automatic qualification ticket despite a convincing victory over Benin Republic in their final qualifying match. Although they secured a playoff berth as one of the best second-placed teams, their hopes of reaching the World Cup ended following the defeat to DR Congo.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is already underway, with football fans across Nigeria following the competition despite the absence of the Super Eagles.

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