Former Nigeria international Taiwo Oloyede has claimed that many members of the current Super Eagles squad will be struggling with deep regret as the FIFA World Cup continues without Nigeria.
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Speaking on the country’s absence from football’s biggest tournament, Oloyede said the pain of missing out is something the players will carry for a long time.
“They will be full of regrets right now,” Oloyede said.
According to the former international, watching other nations compete on the global stage should serve as a painful reminder of the opportunity that slipped away.
“The players know they should have been there,” he implied.
Oloyede insisted that responsibility for the failure ultimately lies with those who took part in the qualification campaign.
“They only have themselves to blame for the situation,” he noted.
Despite his criticism, the former Super Eagles star urged the current generation of players to learn valuable lessons from the disappointment.
“The important thing now is to learn from what happened,” he added.
Oloyede stressed that Nigeria must immediately begin preparations to ensure qualification for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
“We cannot allow this to happen again,” he stressed.
The Super Eagles have continued to face criticism following their failure to qualify for consecutive World Cups, a situation many former players consider unacceptable.
“Missing back-to-back World Cups remains one of the biggest disappointments in Nigerian football,” many football observers believe.
Attention is gradually turning toward rebuilding the team and avoiding another qualification disaster in the future.
For Taiwo Oloyede, the message is clear.
The regret is real.
The lessons must be learned.
And the road to the 2030 World Cup must begin now.
Because opportunities to play on football’s biggest stage do not come often, and missed chances can haunt players for years.
