‘I can’t believe this’ - Ex-Super Eagles star demands action after Nigeria World Cup failures

The Super Falcons, Africa's most decorated women's team, saw their World Cup dreams dashed after a 2-1 loss to South Africa in a crucial play-off match in Casablanca. 

The defeat means Nigeria will be absent from the tournament in Brazil, a bitter pill to swallow for their supporters.

This setback follows the Super Eagles' own failure to secure a spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The problems extend to the youth level, as the Flying Eagles also failed to qualify for the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and, by extension, the U-20 World Cup. 

Former Super Eagles defender Ben Iroha has voiced his alarm, insisting that Nigerian football authorities must undertake a serious review of the situation and warning that the current trend is unacceptable.

In an interview with Complete Sports, Iroha expressed deep frustration over the recent qualification heartbreaks, questioning how a country with such a wealth of talent could experience such a decline.

"As if that was not enough heartbreak, the Super Falcons lost the opportunity to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup," the former Watford left-back lamented. 

"Apart from the defeat to Cameroon in the quarter-final, the Super Falcons failed again to beat South Africa in a World Cup play-off that could have given us a glimmer of hope."

He also described the Flying Eagles' elimination as "pathetic," asking, "How could they have lost to Burkina Faso at such a crucial stage and by such embarrassing scorelines?"

"I can’t believe this, frankly speaking. It’s heartbreaking," Iroha stated. "Nigerians painfully watched the 2026 World Cup on television. 

“We’re going to watch the Women’s World Cup, U-20 World Cup and even the U-17 World Cup from the comfort of our living rooms. I can’t believe this is happening to Nigeria, despite our huge talents."

Iroha has urged a fundamental shift in approach, calling on the nation's football administrators to acknowledge the crisis and identify its root causes.

"We need to sit down and find out what has gone wrong, where we’ve got it wrong, and what we’ve not done that we should do. This is the first step. This trend can’t continue," Iroha concluded.