The National Sports Commission (NSC) has urged Nigerians not to be downcast over the Super Eagles‘ failure to advance to the final playoff of the 2026 World Cup.

The Super Eagles lost 3-4 on penalties to DR Congo in the final of the African playoff in Morocco on Sunday night, a defeat millions of football-loving Nigerians will live to remember.
But the Director General of the NSC, Bukola Olopade, told The Guardian that Nigerians should look forward to a more rewarding future than allow the defeat to weigh them down.

“It was sad we lost the ticket to DR Congo, but we move,” Olopade said in a short message to The Guardian. “Many things to focus on.”
While many Nigerians back home were still in disbelief, casting blame on the players for going through ‘a night of torture’ in the hands of DR Congo, Olopade and the NSC Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, visited the players in the dressing room after and helped to wipe off their tears.

They praised the players for putting up a good fight and used the occasion to remind them that there is another opportunity to right this wrong at the 2025 AFCON, which is also being held in Morocco in just over four weeks from now.
Dikko summoned confidence to encourage the boys, saying, “Cheer up, boys, you gave it a good fight and lost gallantly. We must take the positives from this performance to plan ahead of the forthcoming AFCON.”

On his part, Olopade believes Nigeria stands a better chance of winning the Africa Cup of Nations with good preparation and planning.

He said, “It is painful to crash out the way we did, but we can only take solace in the fact that we have another opportunity to make amends with the Africa Cup of Nations. As much as we feel the pains of missing out on the World Cup, we must motivate ourselves to come back to Morocco in four weeks’ time and win the AFCON.”

The players could not muster the confidence to speak, but from their reactions, it was obvious that they appreciated the NSC for the visit and felt comforted by their words.

The defeat to DR Congo on Sunday night ended months of permutations by Nigerians in the race to the 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

It means Nigeria failed to make it to two consecutive FIFA World Cups in a row, having missed the party at Qatar 2022.