Former Super Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh has warned that football in Nigeria would be dead if they fail to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The three-time African champions failed to make it to the 2022 edition in Qatar.

They lost the ticket to their West African rivals, Ghana, during the playoffs.

The Eagles played at the three previous editions of the World Cup before failing to secure a place in Qatar 2022.

“Nigeria football will be all but dead if we failed to qualify for the next World Cup,” Oliseh said in an interview on ARISE TV on Monday

“We’re already behind many countries because we didn’t qualify (for Qatar 2022), and we’re farther behind because we didn’t participate in this World Cup."

“Football is a religion in this country, but when you don’t have a solid league, you cannot have a good national team.”

The United States, Mexico, and Canada will co-host the 2026 World Cup.