Nigeria great Austin Okocha. Photo by IMAGO
Former Super Eagles captain Austin Okocha has issued a pointed reminder to Eric Chelle’s squad as Nigeria prepare for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, Soccernet.ng reports.
Arguably Nigeria’s most gifted footballer in history, Austin Okocha has urged the team to confront the one flaw he believes has cost them dearly: inconsistency.
With the tournament just weeks away, Okocha’s message lands at a crucial moment for a side still processing their failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Nigeria’s qualifying campaign for the World Cup was turbulent and often frustrating. They played ten matches, winning four, drawing five and losing once; a costly defeat to Benin Republic, the first time the Super Eagles had ever lost a competitive fixture to the Cheetahs.
But it was the draws at home against Lesotho and Zimbabwe that fans found most alarming, exposing a deeper fragility in performances that should have been routine victories.
Finishing second behind South Africa meant Nigeria missed out on an automatic World Cup ticket. A second chance arrived through the continental playoff route, requiring victories over three lower-ranked opponents. After a dramatic 4–1 extra-time win over Gabon, Nigeria’s campaign collapsed once again; this time via penalty shootout against DR Congo.
That defeat confirmed Nigeria would miss a second consecutive World Cup, having also failed to qualify for Qatar 2022. For a football-obsessed nation with a deep reservoir of talent, the disappointment runs deep.
With AFCON 2025 approaching, Okocha believes the lesson from the failed qualifiers must be clear.
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What did Okocha say?
“Nigeria’s run in the World Cup qualifiers was a rollercoaster, but we would have loved to see Nigeria qualify with ease,” Okocha told RG.
He added, “We all know football is not an easy game and what I I think they should improve on is to be more consistent.”
And in a final message to the squad, he warned: “They need to stick to winning with top performance in every game.”
The Super Eagles reached the final of the last AFCON in 2023, hosted in Côte d’Ivoire, restoring some pride after missing the 2022 World Cup. Expectations for Morocco 2025 are even higher, especially with the national mood still shaped by the sting of their World Cup exit.
Nigeria have been placed in the same group with Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania, with Eric Chelle expected to navigate the pressure of leading a talented but unpredictable Eagles.