Former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, has urged Nigerians to let go of the pain of missing the 2026 FIFA World Cup and channel their energy towards supporting the national team ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria will kick off her AFCON campaign on December e 23rd , and Adepoju believes the country must rally together to ensure a strong continental outing.
Speaking on the team’s failure to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup, Adepoju described the situation as heart-breaking but insisted that dwelling on it would serve no purpose.
“It is a very, very sad one. Nobody would have ever thought Nigeria would fail to qualify twice. Very sad, but anyway, we must move forward,” he said. “We don’t have to keep holding on to something that has already gone. We need to learn from it and focus on the future.”
Adepoju expressed confidence that the players have taken valuable lessons from the costly qualifying campaign and will return more determined as the AFCON tournament approaches.
“The players would have learnt from the World Cup exit. I believe that when they come back, they will go out there firing at the AFCON,” he said.
He, however, warned that the competition will be tough, with several African nations also aiming for the title. But despite the challenge, he is optimistic that Nigeria can produce a better performance than in recent outings.
“It’s not going to be easy because other countries also want to win the AFCON. But I believe that if they put everything into it, Nigeria can at least achieve something significant,” he noted. “In the last AFCON, we got to the final and lost. This time, it should be different so that Nigerians will be happy.”
Adepoju stressed that preparation must be “top-notch” and called for total commitment across all levels as the Super Eagles begin their hunt for continental glory later this month.
