2026 World Cup: Brazil vs Morocco draw leaves Afrobeat star convinced about Super Eagles

Achraf Hakimi and Endrick. Photo by IMAGO

Popular Nigerian rapper Tochukwu Ojogwu, better known as Odumodublvck, has shared his thoughts on what the Super Eagles could have achieved at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after Morocco’s clash against Brazil, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Super Eagles failed in their bid to qualify for the World Cup after losing to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the CAF playoff final last year, marking their second consecutive absence from football’s biggest tournament.

Meanwhile, Morocco began their campaign in the competition with an entertaining 1-1 draw against Brazil on Saturday night as they began their quest to replicate their historic semifinal run from the 2022 World Cup.

The Atlas Lions took the lead through Ismael Saibari, who produced a superb dinked finish after he was brilliantly picked out by Brahim Diaz. However, Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior restored parity for Brazil with a stunning curling effort as both teams settled for a share of the spoils in their Group C opener.

Reacting to the result on his official X account (formerly known as Twitter), Odumodublvck revealed that Nigeria would have had a genuine chance of winning the World Cup had they qualified for the tournament.

The Afrobeat star pointed to Nigeria’s draw against Morocco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Although Morocco eventually progressed on penalties in that encounter, he argued that if the Atlas Lions were capable of holding Brazil, then the Super Eagles could have gone all the way at the World Cup.

Soccer Nigeria’s missed World Cup opportunity

Despite FIFA increasing Africa’s allocation from five to ten teams for the 2026 World Cup due to an increase in the total number of teams, Nigeria still failed to secure a place at the tournament.

A poor start to the qualification campaign ultimately proved costly. Although the Super Eagles improved significantly following Eric Chelle’s arrival in 2025, the damage had already been done. They eventually reached the playoff stage but suffered a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to DR Congo in the final.

Nigeria had shown enough in recent months to suggest they could have been a difficult opponent for any side at the World Cup. At the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, they finished third and did not lose a single match in normal time, with their only loss coming on penalties against Morocco in the semifinals.

Their performances in recent friendlies also highlighted their quality. The Super Eagles earned a 2-2 draw against Poland after conceding a late equalizer and narrowly lost 2-1 to Portugal in another competitive display. Those results showed further evidence that they could have held their own against some of the world’s top teams at the Mundial if they had qualified.

As Odumodublvck revealed, Nigeria may well have had an opportunity to make history and potentially become the first African nation to win the World Cup had they qualified.

However, there is no way of knowing how far the Super Eagles might have gone as they failed to qualify and can only ponder on what could have been.

The three-time African champions will hope they avoid a third straight absence by the time the qualifying campaign for the 2030 edition begins, as they look to test themselves on football’s biggest stage.

Nigeria’s attention will now turn to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this year, where they will be aiming to avoid another major setback. The Super Eagles have been drawn alongside Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau and co-hosts Tanzania in Group L.

Meanwhile, Morocco will return to action against Scotland in their second Group C fixture on Friday as they look to claim their first victory of the tournament.

Ayomide Oguntimehin

Ayomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Chief Editor at Soccernet.ng. He has interviewed Super Eagles stars like William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Ademola Lookman, and is known for breaking major transfer stories.

Ayomide has worked with Sports Brief, Naija News and served as Social Lead Editor at Legit.ng. He has also featured on Goal, TVC News, Sports Mole, and Milan News24. He holds a Master’s degree and is currently pursuing a PhD. Follow Ayomide on X (formerly Twitter): @ayo_oguntimehin