John Obi Mikel calls on entire NFF to resign after World Cup failure

Former Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel has demanded the immediate resignation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) leadership, following the country’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Super Eagles failed to advance to the next stage for the 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket after losing a dramatic playoff penalty shootout to DR Congo on November 16, 2025, marking their second consecutive absence from the global showpiece.

🚨 Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has called on NFF officials to resign following Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the second consecutive time.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Mikel said: “The people at the FA, they should all resign. They have to… pic.twitter.com/4ziytXwKrT

— Super Eagles Supporters Club (@official_esclub) March 13, 2026

Despite filing a complaint regarding the eligibility of Congolese players, the Super Eagles missed out on the tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

NFF moved to file a complaint regarding the eligibility of three DR Congo, but two days ago, FIFA cleared the Leopards on the allegation, and confirmed their eligibility to feature at the World Cup’s intercontinental playoffs.

DR Congo have gone ahead to unveil a 26-man squad for the tournament playoff scheduled for March 31.

Nigeria should be leading the way

“It’s a hammer blow and I’ve said it so many times that when you have a country as big as we do, over 300 million people, the biggest country in Africa and we’re not going to the World Cup (for a) second time in a row, the FA, the people that are running the FA should all resign. They have to resign because it’s the second time that it’s happened,” Mikel told talksport.com.

“We have one of the best teams in Africa and we’re not going to be at the World Cup. It’s a disaster. It’s a disaster.

“So, the people running the FA, the president (Ibrahim Musa Gusau) of the FA, the organisation people, they have to resign because African football is growing so much and we are being left behind. Nigeria’s been left behind.

“We should be leading the way. Look at what Morocco is doing with their team, with their country. They’re growing; they’re developing and we keep going backwards time after time.”

DR Congo to face either Jamaica or New Caledonia

Despite FIFA confirming DR Congo, Nigeria have still not lost hope of getting a favourable ruling from the world governing body.

The intercontinental play-off final will be held in Mexico, and DR Congo will play against either Jamaica or New Caledonia.

The Leopards qualified for the inter-confederation play-offs after finishing second behind Senegal in CAF qualifying Group B and now need to win one match to secure their place at their first World Cup finals since 1974, when they competed as Zaire.