‘I didn't see it coming’ - Pinnick boldly claims Super Eagles would qualify for 2026 World Cup if he was NFF president

Pinnick, who led the NFF from October 2014 to October 2022, oversaw Nigeria's qualification for the 2018 World Cup but also their failure to reach the 2022 tournament in Qatar. 

Now, with the national team struggling in the 2026 qualifiers, he has expressed his confidence that things would have been different had he remained in office.

The former Delta State Sports Commission chairman's comments come as Nigeria's chances of reaching the expanded 48-team tournament, which will see up to ten African nations participate, hang by a thread.

Speaking on Sunday Oliseh's "Global Football Insights" show, Pinnick expressed his shock at the team's current predicament, contrasting it with his own tenure.

"I didn't see it coming because ten teams from Africa will qualify," the former CAF Vice President stated. 

"In 2018, we had the toughest group ever; we had all the AFCON winners. Algeria hadn't lost in over 20 games, Cameroon came in as defending champions, Zambia were champions, and Nigeria was the least considered."

He added, "But guess what? We qualified with two games to spare, and we didn't sleep."

Despite expressing respect for the current NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, Pinnick was unequivocal in his belief that Nigeria's back-to-back World Cup qualification failures were avoidable.

"For the 2026 World Cup, if I were there, definitely, Nigeria would have qualified," Pinnick concluded. "There's no basis for Nigeria not to have qualified."

Meanwhile, former Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has firmly opened up on his plans for Glass House.