Former Nigeria midfielder Mutiu Adepoju in an exclusive interview with Footy-Africa has expressed deep disappointment over the Super Eagles’ inability to defeat the Democratic Republic of Congo in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup playoff final.
The Super Eagles lost 4–3 on penalties after regulation time ended 1–1, confirming Nigeria’s absence from the World Cup for the second consecutive edition. Frank Onyeka put Nigeria ahead in the 3rd minute, before Elia Meshack equalised for DR Congo in the 32nd. With no further goals, the match went to penalties, where the Congolese prevailed.
Adepoju, who represented Nigeria at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, believes significant reforms are required within Nigerian football to return the team to the top.
“First of all, it’s a very, very sad one that Nigeria will not be at the World Cup for two consecutive editions, and I think it’s not good for the country,” he exclusively told Footy-Africa. “I knew the game was going to be difficult because of the calibre of players Congo has, but when the match started, in the first half Nigeria had the upper hand, dominated, and got the goal very early”.
DR Congo crush Nigeria’s World Cup hopes in brutal penalty shootout
“We were supposed to capitalize on that and even try to score the second goal, but unfortunately in the second half our players went down. It was as if they were tired, and the Congolese took over the game, winning all the balls while our players kept losing possession immediately. It was a very, very sad situation. I think we just have to look holistically and find a reform. It’s not as if we don’t have good players, but I don’t know what has happened during this period,” he added.
Reflecting on the team’s recent performance, Adepoju shared his thoughts on the challenges they faced during the tournament:
“I wouldn’t want to say it was the distraction they had, even though there were protests when they got to Morocco, but they won the first match and everything was settled. I thought maybe that would have ended it, but probably there was another distraction, and it looked as if our players were tired and not functioning very well against Congo DR, we need to reset our football so that we can come back stronger and be the best in Africa again.” he concluded.
Together we stand strong pic.twitter.com/kwxBciudQe
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) November 16, 2025
With elimination from the FIFA 2026 World Cup, the Super Eagles will now shift their focus to the Africa Cup of Nations beginning next month in Morocco.
At the last edition in the Ivory Coast, Nigeria finished as runners-up after losing 2–1 to the hosts in the final.
