Some football enthusiasts in Aba have called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to urgently take steps to prevent the country’s football from further decline.

The enthusiasts, who spoke on Friday, said the NFF must act to ensure that Nigeria does not continue to miss major international tournaments.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the men’s and women’s 2026 FIFA World Cup.

While the Democratic Republic of Congo knocked out the Super Eagles in the play-off for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Super Falcons were eliminated 1-0 by Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).

The defeat denied the Super Falcons automatic qualification for the 2026 FIFA Women’s World Cup, before a 2-1 defeat by South Africa’s Bayana Bayana in the Africa play-off.

The Flying Eagles also lost the WAFU B Under-20 final to Burkina Faso.

Tony Ademodi, a sports analyst with Magic FM, Aba, said Nigeria’s representatives were not adequately prepared for the competitions but managed to progress in the group stages largely through individual brilliance.

“When it mattered most, both the Flying Eagles and Super Falcons were exposed by more formidable teams that had been playing together as a unit,” he said.

Another enthusiast, Andrew Nwankwo, an amateur footballer, said the teams performed relatively well considering their level of preparation and exposure by the NFF.

“NFF needs to go back to the drawing board because the dwindling fortunes of Nigerian football are staring all of us in the face.

“The Super Eagles missed the 2026 World Cup; the Super Falcons were knocked out in the WAFCON quarter-finals by Cameroon, while the Flying Eagles were thrashed 4-1 by Burkina Faso in the WAFU B final,” he said.

Ikechukwu Okoro, an Enyimba fan, blamed the country’s football administrators for the teams’ poor performances, saying they had failed to do their jobs effectively.

“NFF should have entrusted the teams to capable hands that can read games and psych the players up when necessary.

“These two qualities were lacking in our game against Burkina Faso, who had a sound technical team that applied these and other tactical approaches effectively,” Mr Okoro said.

Burkina Faso defeated Nigeria’s Under-20 team 2-0 in the group stage before thrashing the Flying Eagles 4-1 in the final to emerge champions and pick the zone’s sole ticket to the next WAFU Cup in Ghana.

(NAN)