Ben Iroha demands action after Nigeria's 2-1 World Cup setback

South Africa defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the decisive World Cup play-off in Casablanca, ending the Super Falcons’ hopes of reaching the tournament in Brazil. Former Super Eagles defender Ben Iroha said the latest setback showed that Nigerian football needs an urgent and serious review.

The defeat came after Nigeria had already failed to overcome Cameroon in the quarter-finals. The Super Falcons then missed the opportunity to secure a route to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup by losing to South Africa, leaving one of the country’s most successful national teams absent from the competition.

Nigeria’s men also failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the Flying Eagles were eliminated from the race for the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations. That result also ended their hopes of appearing at the next U-20 World Cup. Iroha criticised the youth team’s loss to Burkina Faso, particularly the margin of defeat in that tie.

The failures have come despite stronger results for the Super Eagles in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria finished first with nine points from three matches, winning all three and scoring eight goals while conceding four. Their most recent five-match record is two wins, two draws and one loss, including victories over Jamaica and Zimbabwe, draws against Poland and Jordan, and a defeat by Portugal.

Iroha said the contrast between Nigeria’s talent and the recent qualification setbacks was difficult to accept. He called on the football authorities to examine where the system had gone wrong, determine what had been neglected and address the causes rather than allow the pattern to continue.

The former defender also warned that Nigerian supporters face watching the 2026 World Cup, the Women’s World Cup and the U-20 World Cup without their national teams. For Iroha, the sequence across the senior men’s, senior women’s and youth sides represents a crisis that requires a change in approach.