From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Ahead of this weekend’s kick-off of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, has assured Nigerians that the Super Eagles will pick the ticket for the football festival in USA, Mexico and Canada in 2026.
Gusau, however, urged all stakeholders in Nigerian football and the country at large to rally round the team when it officially begins its qualifier campaign with a double header against Lesotho and Zimbabwe for the sole ticket in Group C this week at Nest of Champions in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Speaking in Abuja, the NFF boss emphasised that the football house is not leaving anything to chance towards ensuring that Nigeria feature in her 7th World Cup appearance in the tournament.
Gusau further appealed that all hands must be on deck, adding that NFF needs all the support and prayers of all football fans and stakeholders to achieve the target.
“We are particularly excited and optimistic in the NFF about the qualifiers and we just want the cooperation of everyone around the football family throughout the qualifiers.
“I want to say that we are particularly very lucky with the kind of support we are getting from the federal government through the Sports Minister and other relevant government agencies and the Akwa Ibom State government towards these qualifiers and we have no doubt this will continue.
“And this is the kind of support we are asking from corporate bodies and all stakeholders throughout the qualifying campaign,” he pleaded.
Commenting further, the football federation boss said: “We all know how bad we all felt for failing to qualify for the last World Cup in Qatar and plenty of lessons were learnt from that which we are hoping will not repeat itself this time around.
“We know that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a passionate sports loving President who is very keen to see the Super Eagles land the World Cup ticket and we are very determined to see this happen,” Gusau promised.
