At the end of the Sunday’s explosive and dramatic final World Cup match between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Kylian Mbappe’s France, my mind immediately raced to Africa and Nigeria in search of some answers to some probing eternal questions about African football, Nigerian football and why an African country is yet to win the World Cup.  At the end of the pulsating and energetic match of 120 minutes, the winner of the epical encounter between the best of the best was decided through penalty kicks and expectedly Argentina won and France, the defending champions lost, but lost with dignity and elegance. After an uninspiring first half which saw the game 2-0 against Les Blues, France woke up from its lackluster game, which had neither rime nor rhythm, and eventually stamped their authority and dominance in the second half and reached a 3-3 draw before the penalty kicks.

The World Cup final match on Sunday has been described as the best in the history of the game. Messi scored a brace while Mbappe scored a hat-trick. One of the discoveries of Qatar 2022 is Morocco writing Africa in the annals of the global football fiesta reaching the semi-final, the first ever for any African team. Morocco came top of their group after battling with Belgium and Croatia. They routed Spain in the Round of 16 through penalties and won 1-0 against Portugal to reach the last four.

Before Morocco’s spectacular performance, the best any African side had made at the World Cup was quarter final. Many African teams, Tunisia, Ghana and Cameroon only struggled through the group stage and failed to reach the Round of 16.  Senegal made it to the Round of 16 before being defeated by England 3-0. Morocco lost the third place match to Croatia but they lost gallantly and they made Africa proud. Morocco deserved our accolades for improving the image of African football.

Another discovery of Qatar 2022 is that there are no longer minions or underdogs in global football. Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina 2-1 at the group stage. Morocco sent Portugal out of the contest. There are other upsets. Brazil was defeated and ousted out of the competition 4-2 by fire-eating Croatia in a dramatic quarter final. Except Morocco and Senegal, the other African representatives, Tunisia, Cameroon, Ghana did not progress beyond the group stage.

In 1934, Egypt became the first African country to participate in the World Cup. Since then, 13 different African nations have competed in the biggest global football tournament. While Nigerians watched and savoured the sweet and bitter moments of Qatar 2022, one thing they won’t forget in a hurry is that fact that the Super Eagles could not make it to the global sports fiesta by that defeat by their West African rival, the Black Stars of Ghana.

The absence of the Super Eagles was felt at the event. Despite their ominous absence, many Nigerians and lovers of the round leather game were entertained throughout the duration of the game. After Qatar 2022, what next for African football? What next for Nigerian football after our absence in Qatar? Can the Super Eagles be present in the next World Cup in 2026 to be held in United States, Canada and Mexico?

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This is the most pressing question that should concern those in charge of Nigerian football, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and not besting Morocco’s stunning performance. How can the Super Eagles be made to qualify for the global football tournament in 2026? Will the current coaching crew of the Super Eagles headed by Portugal’s Jose Peseiro qualify the Super Eagles for the 2026 World Cup?  Or do we look inwards for a new coaching crew for the Super Eagles ahead of preparations for the next World Cup? Or do we have a mixture of both foreign and indigenous coaching crew to prepare the Super Eagles for the soccer biggest global event?

These are some of the issues the eggheads at the NFF should tackle now and begin the preparations for the 2026 games. This is the right time to start the preparations. There is no waiting game here or relying so much on mother luck. We should study the history and character of teams that have won the World Cup and emulate them. We should also emulate the energy and psychology of teams that have made much progress in the tournament. We need to take the best from each team and factor them in our team preparation.

In preparing for the World Cup, we need both experienced players and youthful players with zest and eagerness to win laurels. We need a new Super Eagles that will be hungry for goals. We also need players with technical acumen, great pace and passion for the game. We saw some of these qualities in the teams that made the last four, Argentina, France, Croatia and Morocco. But we saw them more in the current World Cup winners and the defending champions, Argentina and France.

Since no country has won the World Cup using foreign coach, at least to the best of my knowledge, it will be better if we focus on indigenous coach as we prepare for the next mundial. We must begin to believe in ourselves, our past coaches and world-class players. Our football will die a natural death if we continue to depend on a foreign coach.  Beyond the issue of a coach, whether endogenous or exogenous, our football is beleaguered by internal contradictions and politics. While we don’t give our best legs to be in the national team, we kill the game with ethnic and biased selection formula. There is corruption in our football, where round pegs are put in square holes.  We even dictate to the coach how he will play the game. Our grassroots football is stagnating due to official negligence and the inability of the NFF to scout for local talents and develop them. Our local league is also dying due to undue government’s interference. Lack of professionalizing our league, our football is why football is declining in Nigeria, in Africa. Apart from Morocco and perhaps Senegal, it is sad that African teams were made the whipping boys of the tournament as usual. Team Morocco has proved beyond any shade of doubt that African football has come of age and that African team can even aspire to win the World Cup. The possibility of an African team winning the World Cup is a reality, it is achievable. Morocco has elevated our football. Let all teams in Africa aspire to improve on Morocco’s sterling performance.

Before then, FIFA must as always improve the officiating of the game. Some referees officiate with bias and the VAR operators must be up and doing. Some occasions for penalty or free kick are ominously overlooked by some referees. Morocco suffered from such negligence in the competition. Africa is not well represented in the World Cup match officials, including the VAR. FIFA must correct these anomalies. The big names in the round leather game are respected more than the lesser known ones, especially those from Africa. It is time for FIFA to increase African slots and representations in the World Cup in view of the size of the continent.