Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has called on the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to step down following the country’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Mikel also urged the Federal Government to investigate Nigeria’s inability to win its World Cup qualifying group, which included Rwanda, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Benin Republic and South Africa.
The former midfielder, who earned 89 caps for Nigeria and featured at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup, described the failure to qualify as a major setback for the country’s football.
Nigeria will miss the World Cup finals in North America after their hopes were ended when they were beaten on penalties by DR Congo national football team in the second round of African qualifying in November.
Speaking in an interview with talkSPORT, Mikel said the process of reforming Nigerian football should begin with the resignation of those currently running the federation.
“It’s a hammer blow. When you have a country as big as we do and we’re not going to the World Cup for the second time in a row, the FA and the people running it should resign,” he said.
Mikel also criticised the leadership of the federation under Ibrahim Musa Gusau, saying Nigeria risks falling behind other African football powers.
He pointed to the progress made by Morocco as an example of how strong football management and long-term planning can produce results, warning that Nigeria is “going backwards time after time.”
Despite the setback, Nigeria still has a slim chance of qualifying for the 2026 tournament. The NFF has submitted a petition to FIFA accusing DR Congo of fielding ineligible players during the African playoff final last year.
A decision on the petition is expected before the inter-continental playoff scheduled to take place in Mexico later this month.
