The return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and improved budgetary allocation to the sports sector meant little to sector managers, as the year ended with only marginal successes that still mirror past shenanigans. GOWON AKPODONOR reports that it was yet another emotional year for Nigerian sports lovers.

Many followers of Nigerian sports expected 2025 to be significantly better than the scandal-filled year that was 2024, which culminated in the country’s failure to win a single medal at the Olympic Games held in Paris, France.

The newly reintroduced National Sports Commission (NSC) has raised immense hope for a turnaround, especially after the organisation unveiled its Reset, Refocus, and Relaunch initiative, aimed at transforming the country’s sports fortunes. However, for many discerning Nigerians, there has been little change between 2024 and 2025, despite the announcement of an N78 billion budget for sports, a record for a sector that has historically struggled with poor funding.

Many saw the improved budget as a sign that the Federal Government was intentional about developing the sports sector. As if taking a cue from the enhanced budget, the country’s U-19 women’s cricket national team won its first game in a world championship when it beat Samoa at the T20 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia.

The girls went on to finish as the fifth overall best Cricket U-19 team. The feat earned them qualification for the next edition of the World Cup.

Shortly after the feat in Malaysia, the NSC held its first major outing at the National Sports Festival held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, from May 15 to 30, with some of the country’s promising stars getting the opportunity to exhibit their talents.

But it ended on a sad note when some members of the Kano State contingent died on their way back home from Abeokuta. That incident once again brought to the fore the country’s neglect of athletes’ welfare, as it emerged that the team was involved in a ghastly accident while making a night trip in a rickety bus from Abeokuta to Kano.

The year 2025 was a year of contrasting fortunes for the country, with the highs recorded by the cricket team, the Super Falcons’ 10th victory at the African Women’s Nations Cup in Morocco, as well as D’Tigress confirmation of its dominance in the continent’s women’s basketball in Cote d’Ivoire. All of this was dampened by the Super Eagles’ second consecutive failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

To a majority of Nigerian sports fans, the Super Eagles, who are currently in Morocco for the 35th AFCON campaign, had no excuse for missing the World Cup party to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.

Their failure to qualify from a group dominated by “minnows” overshadowed the moments of triumph recorded by others, and made 2025 a bittersweet year for the nation’s sports.

As has been the case for many years, the Super Falcons brought the greatest joy to Nigerian sports fans in 2025 by winning a record-extending 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title in Morocco, a feat they dubbed “Mission X” in grand style.

The win made it a perfect 10-in-10 in finals for Nigeria, reinforcing its stranglehold on women’s football across the continent. The girls and their handlers were warmly welcomed and adequately rewarded by President Bola Tinubu upon their arrival in Abuja.

When Nigerians were still relishing the Super Falcons’ historic feat, the women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, went to Cote d’Ivoire to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive title. It was their seventh championship title.

The D’Tigress, inspired by the historic feat of the Super Falcons, made their own history, and in the process, gave Nigerians the hope that everything around the nation’s sports would be smooth in 2025.

As was the case with the Super Falcons, President Tinubu rolled out the red carpet for the D’Tigress and their officials on their return to Abuja.

As sports fans thought that they were in for a blissful sports year following the Super Falcons and D’Tigress’ victories on the continent, they got a rude shock from the Super Eagles, which failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second successive time.

Following Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the previous tournament held in Qatar in 2022, many thought that the managers of the game had learnt their lessons and that the road to the 2026 World Cup would be made easier for the national team. That never happened, even with Africa’s slots increased to nine by FIFA.

In a group comprising such minnows as Lesotho, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and the Benin Republic, as well as South Africa, the Super Eagles failed to win enough games to guarantee their passage to the Mundial billed to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Super Eagles also failed to take advantage of the second chance provided by the African playoff for a place in the inter-continental playoff, which would have given the team the passage to North America.
Instead, the Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup dream ended in a penalty shootout defeat by DR Congo in November.

Although the country remains hopeful of qualifying for the inter-continental playoff through a petition to disqualify DR Congo for fielding ineligible players, 2025 marked a steady decline in the country’s football.

Earlier in August, Nigeria was humiliated at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, where the home-based Super Eagles were eliminated in the first round.

The CHAN Eagles lost their opening game in Zanzibar 0-1 to Senegal, were thrashed 4-0 in their second game by Sudan, before managing a 2-0 defeat of Congo in their last game.

Team Nigeria also performed poorly at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile, where their campaign ended in a disappointing 0-4 loss to Argentina in the Round of 16.

The women’s U-17 team did not fare better as the Flamingos failed once again in their quest to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. They reached the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams, only to lose 4-0 to Italy.

The year still holds hope for the country’s football as the Super Eagles compete in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations holding in Morocco. Despite the excellent job by the women in the year, the men’s senior basketball team, D’Tigers, continued their slide in the continent’s game, with the highlight of their poor state being their failure to make the grades at the AfroBasket held in Angola.

D’Tigers managed to secure fifth place at the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket in August, after losing in the quarterfinals to Senegal by 91–75 points.
While the men’s teams struggled in football and basketball, Team Nigeria also did not fare too well in athletics, although it had a better outing at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, than it did at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Unlike the Paris Games, where it did not win any medal, Team Nigeria won one silver and one bronze medal in Tokyo.

Tobi Amusan got Nigeria’s only silver medal in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 12.29 seconds, while Ezekiel Nathaniel earned a bronze medal in the men’s 400m hurdles, setting a new Nigerian record of 47.11 seconds.

Although Kanyisola Ajayi fell short of winning a medal, he became the first Nigerian man in many years to reach the 100m final, clocking 9.93 seconds. Nigeria finished 27th on the medal table with two medals.

Though the performance in Tokyo was not impressive, it was an improvement from the previous World Championships, in Budapest, Hungary, where Nigeria failed to win any medal in 2023.

Perhaps, the biggest news in athletics in 2025 was the defection of one of Team Nigeria’s most promising stars, Favour Ofili, to Turkey, which, she believes, will provide her with the right environment to achieve her potential.

Among other things, Ofili was irked by the country’s failure to register her for the 100m event at the Paris Olympics and the alleged “carefree” manner in which the country treated the incident, with the “culprits rewarded with more responsibilities by the authorities.”

Ofili also referenced official tardiness, which caused her disqualification, alongside some other Nigerians, from the Tokyo 2020 Game. But money also played a part in her defection to Turkey as the European country, eyeing a strong outing at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, promised her a $500,000 base payment that can rise to $1,000,000 if the move is completed. She is also to earn a substantial amount of money monthly once she starts running for Turkey.

The year 2025 also recorded the deaths of two former captains of the Super Eagles, Christian Chukwu and Peter Rufai.
Christian Chukwu died in Enugu after a protracted battle with illness, while Rufai died in Lagos.

However, the nation’s sports also recorded some gains in the year 2025. These include the performance by Team Nigeria at the CAA U-18/U-20 Athletics Championship in Abeokuta, where Nigeria topped the medals table, as well as the country’s performance at the 4th Africa Youth Games in Angola, where they finished fifth.

Nigerians are hoping that the Super Eagles will finish strong at the ongoing 35th AFCON in Morocco to begin the year 2026 on a good note.