2026 World Cup Disappointment: Who's at Fault – Super Eagles Players, Chelle, or the NFF?

It’s exactly one week after Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup dreams crashed and burned.

Despite a shabby start to the main qualifying series, the Super Eagles managed to make it into the playoffs.

Eric Chelle’s men saw off Gabon easily in the semi-final, powered by a fantastic brace from Victor Osimhen.

In the final against the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria took an early lead, after Frank Onyeka’s shot was deflected in. The Leopards levelled before the break.

But the most decisive thing that happened was Osimhen being subbed off with a hamstring injury. Everything went downhill for the Eagles from there.

Although they pushed their luck to the penalty shoot-out, they ultimately lost out 4-3 and DR Congo clinched the African ticket.

So, who is to blame – the players, Chelle or the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)?

“I think all parties have different reasons why they can get the blame,” Wale Agbede, a renowned sports broadcaster, told DAILY POST.

“But at this point in time, I feel the players deserve a lot more blame than anybody else.

“Just because having scaled through so many hurdles and issues, I don’t think the players showed they really wanted this ticket enough.

“The players haven’t played with the level of commitment and grit that was required from the start of the qualifiers.

“Don’t forget that they had four points from the first five games – and three of them were at home. It was absolutely embarrassing. The qualifying series was in shambles from the get-go.

“And during these times, there was nothing about bonuses or whatever.

“Nonetheless, we are not talking about home-based players who haven’t seen dollars for the first time. We are talking about players whose match bonuses (with Nigeria) is the kind of money they spend on clothes in Milan or Paris.

“So, I don’t buy this idea that they need these bonuses to be able to win games in Africa.”

Ever since the DR Congo game, Nigerian football fans have been calling for heads to roll.

The outrage has become quite a familiar one. And usually, nothing happens.

Or will it be different this time around?

“Maybe a few players in the squad will be axed. I don’t know. I think these players are over-pampered,” Agbede said.

“AFCON is in one month. I doubt that the manager will take drastic actions.

“But left to me, William Troost-Ekong should be banished from the team. To be a leader and act in the way he behaved in Morocco is embarrassing. He is not fit to lead that team.

“With regards to the administrators, just to be clear, the NFF going into these playoffs was not owing the players match bonuses. So leave all those talks about they are owing them since 2018 or whatever.

“The NSC verbally promises these players special bonuses and they got there and were asking for that bonus.

“Maybe the NFF is owing Gernot Rohr, Finidi George or Chelle. I don’t know. But I don’t see heads rolling.”

One of the popular calls has been for the NFF to be disbanded.

But Agbede adds: “When people talk about disbanding the NFF, they always point to Goodluck Jonathan disbanding the NFF during his time.

“This is not a disbanding problem. Our society at large in Nigeria is dysfunctional, which means the NFF is definitely going to be dysfunctional.

“Because other aspects of government and administration are riddled with corruption and ineptitude.

“So, what is to say that when they disband this current NFF, whatever setup is created is still not going to be a cacophony of corrupt Nigerians coming together to get their cut of the national cake in football?

“I think there needs to be a clean-up. But we can easily say that about other ministries, parastatals, etc.

“I doubt the government will disband the NFF. Inept people are not going to do anything about inept people. So, the cycle will continue.”