Three-time African champion makes first appearance at the 1994 World Cup
Super Eagles defender Kenneth Omeruo has urged his national team-mates to seriously pursue qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reported.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the previous Mundial tournament held in Qatar last year, but Morocco became the first African country to reach the semi-finals.
Omeruo was part of the Super Eagles team that performed well to reach the play-off rounds, only to fail on away goals against eternal rivals Ghana.
Nigeria will qualify for the 2026 World Cup today with a match against Lesotho.
Mr Omeruo told his colleagues to use the disappointment of missing out on the Qatar 2022 Games as springboard to increase their ambitions to qualify for the next Games.
“Most of the people in the team still remember how hard it was to miss out on the Qatar 2022 World Cup,” the Kasimpasa defender told ESPN. “The memories will remain, but they will disappear. This is a new opportunity, and we all want to be a part of the next one.
“This is a serious issue for us. We are fully committed to what we need to do for the next World Cup. We have played against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the past.
“We have to win both matches, so it’s important to stick to the game plan and take the match seriously.”
Nigeria has participated in the FIFA World Cup six times since the first edition in 1994. The Eagles’ greatest accomplishment was reaching the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998, and 2014.
