Obafemi Martins Sends Message to Eric Chelle’s Super Eagles Ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup
- Former Super Eagles striker Obafemi Martins has sent a message to the team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second consecutive time after losing the playoff
- Martins knows what it means to have missed out on the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany during his prime years
Former Super Eagles striker Obafemi Martins has sent a message to Eric Chelle’s team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Nigeria will watch the tournament from home after failing to qualify, the second edition without the team, having also missed out on the 2022 edition.
Source: Getty Images
The World Cup kicks off in four days, and the wound of missing out on the tournament has reopened in the hearts of Nigerian football fans.
The team's performance at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and in recent friendly matches makes it hurt more that they failed to qualify.
Martins bemoans Nigeria’s World Cup failure
Obafemi Martins is impressed with the current Super Eagles group led by Eric Chelle and some of the newest additions he has introduced to the team.
As noted by NFF, Chelle handed debuts to multiple players during the 2026 Unity Cup, including goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo and Millwall attacker Femi Azeez.
The recent performance, for Martins, is painful because such a talented group of players will not be at the World Cup.
“We have to work and see how it goes at the end. I'm so happy for the new invitees because they all gave a good account of themselves, and I think they played quite well, and I'm proud of that,” Martins told the New Telegraph.
“The current form of our players all round is very impressive, and this makes the World Cup absence so painful. That Nigeria is not going to the World Cup. I'm not happy about that.”
However, the former Newcastle United star urged the team to pick themselves up and start preparing for the 2030 edition in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.
“I'm a fan even though I used to play for Super Eagles, I'm a fan, and I think they should gather themselves together and try to play as a team and prepare for the World Cup (2030),” he added.
Source: Getty Images
The Super Eagles have two AFCONs in 2027 and 2028 to prepare for before thinking about the 2030 World Cup.
Martins certainly understands the pain of having a talented group failing to qualify for the World Cup, having been part of the Nigerian squad that missed out on the 2006 edition.
By the time the team returned to the global stage in 2010, most of the group from 2006 were either out of the team or no longer in their prime.
CAF sends World Cup message to Nigeria
Legit.ng previously reported that CAF sent a message to Nigeria despite failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
The African football governing body reminisced about Nigeria’s debut at the tournament in 1998, when Rashidi Yekini scored the first goal.
Source: Legit.ng
