Super Eagles will qualify for 2026 World Cup — Shaibu

…says local, foreign players should form the national team

The immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, has expressed optimism that the senior male national football team, the Super Eagles, will hoist Nigeria’s flag at the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Shaibu, in an interview with SportingTribune in Abuja, called for the blend and mixture of both the home-based and their foreign-born counterparts in the Eagles’ set up to make the team thick as he urged stakeholders to rally round Coach Eric Chelle to succeed with the boys.

He said the Franco-Malian possesses the quality to bring the best out of the players, coordinate, whip them into line thus making Nigeria a formidable team not only in Africa but compete with the best at the world stage.

The former deputy governor added that Nigeria will play all the politics to make sure that the Super Eagles qualify for next year’s Mundial while urging the boys to put more efforts and play the game on the pitch. He nonetheless called for more concentration of football at the grassroots where new Okochas, Kanus, Garba Lawals can be discovered and also serve as pool of talents for the national team.

He said, “For the Super Eagles, I’m one of those that are very optimistic that we would go to World Cup. And each time I say so people will say it’s because you are a footballer, you are a player and you’re just selfish. No, I’m not selfish. Before we hired the present coach (Eric Chelle), I was one of the lone voices that believes that this coach coming in will help our team.

“And some people are saying he’s from Mali, he’s a lowly-rated coach. It’s not about his low-rated. Before you make a comment about an individual, check his records, check his style and I saw what he (Chelle) did with Mali. My assessment of what he did with Mali and the calibre of players that he brought together to do it with Mali I felt that looking at our team (Super Eagles), I see that generation of young boys that he put together in Mali. And that gave me the courage that if this kind of coach that believes in youthful energy and can convert it positively, then we need him for Super Eagles.

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“The problem with our players has been coordination and they need somebody that can actually put them to line. We have quality players but the blending has been the problem. I gave my own advice and I said look, depending on foreign players especially those that are born outside Nigeria now coming to take the slot in the Super Eagles should be reduced.”

He added, “We should develop our grassroots football. We should produce the new Okochas, we should have another Kanu, we should have new Etim Esins, another Amokachi, Garba Lawal of our time. We need to build them and there’re many of them in the league (NPFL). So, we should have a blend of the home and those born outside Nigeria in the national team. That blend is critical to make our national team a world-class that can compete in the World Cup and beat the best team in the world.

“Look at what (Victor) Osimhen is doing and how he’s mesmerising in the Turkish Lig. He did it in Napoli, he’s doing it again. Look at (Ademola) Lookman too. We have a lot of them. Look at our League it’s coming up strongly. This coach (Chelle) has started bringing some of our local players in and we need more of them. We need a blend of the local and the foreign to be able to deal with it. I believe that we’ll qualify (for the World Cup

“Also don’t forget that there is politics in football and the politics football is what has put us in fourth position but I can bet that if we don’t get the number one spot, we’ll get number two and that will qualify us for the playoff and from that playoff I can tell you that all of us will not only play the politics but will play the politics of Nigeria, the politics of FIFA, the politics of CAF and the players will play the game.”