Iwobi Raises Hope For Super Eagles To Feature In 2026 World Cup

<h4>&NewLine;Iwobi Raises Hope For Super Eagles<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Super Eagles midfielder&comma; Alex Iwobi&comma; has expressed hope that Nigeria could yet secure a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup&comma; despite their current uncertainty in the qualification race&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Fulham midfielder admitted the national team is effectively in a state of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;waiting” as Nigeria holds out for a potential lifeline to the global showpiece in the United States&comma; Canada and Mexico&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking in an interview with Supersport Football about the emotional weight of possibly missing the World Cup&comma; Iwobi was confronted with a hypothetical question&colon; would he rather lift the AFCON 2025 trophy or qualify for the World Cup&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For the 29-year-old&comma; who featured at Russia 2018&comma; the answer goes beyond personal ambition and centres on the aspirations of his teammates&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I mean we’re still waiting&comma; well hopefully we can go to the World Cup&comma; but I feel it’s a tough one&period; It’s a tough one because winning AFCON is like… It’s a great legacy&comma; it’s a great thing to have like in your career&comma; a memorable moment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;32423" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-32423" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-32423" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;01&sol;imago1071114608-750x499-1-300x200&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Iwobi Raises Hope For Super Eagles To Feature In 2026 World Cup" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"200" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-32423" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em>Super Eagles And Fulham Defender&comma; Calvin Bassey&comma; celebrating success on the field of play<&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;But then at the same time&comma; because I’ve been to the World Cup already&comma; a lot of the players haven’t been&period; They would like to say &OpenCurlyQuote;I want to go to the World Cup&comma;’ so I can’t be selfish and say win the AFCON and for my teammates to not go to the World Cup&period; So it’s a tough one&period; I don’t know&period; I don’t know&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Iwobi’s cautious optimism reflects the wider mood within the <strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Nigeria Football Federation &lpar;NFF<&sol;a><&sol;strong>&rpar;&comma; which is awaiting a decision from FIFA following its formal petition over Nigeria’s World Cup qualification play-off defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are still waiting&period; Hopefully we can go to the World Cup&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite a painful penalty shootout loss to DR Congo at the Moulay Hassan Stadium in November&comma; the<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Super Eagles’ qualification hopes may not yet be extinguished&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The NFF has petitioned FIFA&comma; alleging that the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thisdaylive&period;com&sol;">Congolese<&sol;a> team fielded up to six ineligible players during the decisive encounter&period; The federation’s case centres on what it describes as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;dual nationality trap”&comma; arguing that while FIFA regulations permit nationality switches&comma; DR Congo’s constitution prohibits dual citizenship&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;31828" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-31828" style&equals;"width&colon; 275px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-31828" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;01&sol;download-19-1&period;png" alt&equals;"Iwobi Raises Hope For Super Eagles To Feature In 2026 World Cup" width&equals;"275" height&equals;"183" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-31828" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>Super Eagles<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>NFF General Secretary Dr Sanusi Mohammed insists the federation has a strong case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nigeria recently secured a bronze medal at AFCON 2025 in Morocco and are widely regarded as one of Africa’s most talented squads&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;