Figure 1 Nigerian football needs to improve

Nigeria is rightly considered one of the great powers of African football. A journey all the way to the final of this year’s AFCON seems to suggest that the Super Eagles are still one of the most dominant teams on the continent. But have recent results masked problems that desperately need to be solved? Should the best online betting sites be backing Nigeria?

It took a resurgent Ivory Coast, cheered on by a passionate home crowd, to halt Nigeria’s race to a fourth AFCON title. The host nation had improved remarkably since the group stage when Nigeria picked up three vital points against the Elephants and capitalized on systematic errors and fatigue to win an improbable championship of their own.

Football fans around the world may now think that the Nigeria that they know from the record books and former triumphs is back. The Super Eagles who shocked the world by winning Olympic gold against the might of Argentina had returned. The famous players and teams of the past must have looked to millions watching around the globe to finally have some worthy successors.

But those more familiar with the national side – and the way it is run – will know that the Super Eagles were probably lucky to make it all the way to the AFCON final. There are some major deficiencies in the current squad and there is a lot of work to be done if Nigeria is to rise to the summit of African football again. There is a lot of work to be done for this team to even make it to the next World Cup in 2026.

Before we get too critical of the way Nigeria has played recently, we should take a moment to praise its achievements. The 2024 squad did better than any Super Eagles team has done since the last title in 2013. In 2015 and 2017, Nigeria didn’t even make it to the finals. So, maybe we should not be too downhearted about the team clinching a runners-up spot.

But the truth is that Nigeria was largely unconvincing throughout the tournament. Drawing against Equatorial Guinea in the opening game was a bad result, however you look at it. Only a surprise victory over a curiously underperforming Ivory Coast in the second game gave the Super Eagles a chance of progressing to the knockout rounds at all. There needed to be a much better performance in the next few games.

The round of 16 and quarterfinal victories over Cameroon and Angola were a sign that things can get much better for Nigeria. The Super Eagles were by far the better team against both opponents and Ademola Lookman, in particular, looked like he could be a player to lead the side into a brighter future. But it was the semifinal display against South Africa that will worry any true fan of this team.

By that point, many of the big names in African football had already departed the tournament. It could be said that it looked like being Nigeria’s best chance of winning AFCON since that last trophy 11 years ago. South Africa’s form in the tournament had been slow and steady enough to dispatch some major North African powerhouses. But Nigeria would have been more than happy to have avoided the hosts in the final four.

As we know, Nigeria progressed to the final thanks to a penalty shoot-out. But South Africa was allowed back into the match with a last-minute penalty. The Super Eagles had visibly tired the longer the tournament went on and had had to rely on a penalty of its own to even make it to extra time against Bafana Bafana. In the second half of the final, Nigeria was hardly in the game and it is something of a surprise that the final margin of defeat was not larger. Finishing second is not something to be ashamed of – but Nigeria should not pretend that everything is good.

There are a number of problems for the Super Eagles to face in the coming months. The first of which is to decide on a permanent head coach. Jose Peseiro is no longer in charge and some of the errors shown during AFCON should be shouldered by the Portuguese coach. He was too slow to adapt to opponents changing tactics and relied on the talent in his squad to make it as far as it did.

Figure 2 Qualifying for the World Cup is an absolute must

With such attacking skill in the Super Eagles squad, it seems incredible that Victor Osimhen only scored one goal at AFCON. He should have been the one to lead the team to glory. Instead, it was down to Lookman and the captain, William Troost-Ekong, to score the goals. Surely Nigeria should be on the front foot against weaker African opposition? That is the best way to utilize the talent that is in this current squad.

The core of the squad that made it to the final of AFCON will probably be the players that attempt to take Nigeria back to the same tournament in 2025 and the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2026. New faces will be tried out in the meantime – especially in scheduled friendlies, but the talent needed is already there.

The next World Cup qualification games are scheduled for June, with the Super Eagles hosting South Africa first. Another win there is vital and by then a new head coach will be in a position to navigate the Super Eagles towards that top spot in the group and a berth at World Cup 2026. The results – if not the performances – at AFCON should be taken as an inspiration. Then we might see the Super Eagles truly soaring again.