Nigeria failed to achieve their pre-international performance, failing to pick up a win against two of the continent’s least successful teams.
Super Eagles goalkeeper Francis Uzoho bid farewell to fans and critics on one of his social media pages after deactivating his X (formerly Twitter) account, Soccernet.ng reported.
Uzoho started in goal for Nigeria, three-time African champions who suffered two disappointing draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in their opening matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Lesotho on Thursday and needed a second-half goal from Kelechi Iheanacho to avoid a 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe on Sunday.
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Nigeria’s two goals conceded were not directly caused by Uzoho’s mistakes. Still, fans were disappointed that Omonia Nicosia’s goalkeeper failed to save the long-range free kick that gave the Warriors the lead against Rwanda.
Uzoho has not always been one of the Super Eagles’ most popular players, especially after helping Nigeria lose to Ghana in the race to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The former Golden Eaglets goalkeeper conceded cheap goals in last month’s international friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, but that didn’t solve the problem.
Following his dominant performance, Uzoho has faced harsh criticism from fans and pundits who are demanding that head coach Jose Peceiro be installed as the Super Eagles’ number one.
It is unclear why he deactivated his account, but access to Uzoho’s Twitter account no longer exists.
However, the 25-year-old goalkeeper’s Instagram account remains functional.
Uzoho’s international career
At just 14 years old, Uzoho was part of the Super Eagles squad that conquered the world at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, replacing regular player Dele Alampas.
Uzoho was first called up to Nigeria’s senior national team in October 2017 and made his international debut on 14 November, replacing Daniel Akpeyi in a 4-2 friendly win against Argentina .
The former Deportivo La Coruña goalkeeper was Nigeria’s number one at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, starting all three of his team’s matches in the tournament.
Uzoho also helped Nigeria win the bronze medal at the 2019 African Cup of Nations, scoring for Nigeria in the third-place play-off against Tunisia.
