Nigerian comedian and actor, Bright ‘Basketmouth’ Okpocha, has expressed confidence that the Super Eagles the potential to win the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, as well as the 2026 FIFA World Cup.The Eric Chelle-led team has already secured qualification for the 2025 AFCON but are still battling to book their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, scheduled to take place from 11 June to 19 July.
Currently, the Super Eagles sit fourth in Group C with seven points, trailing behind South Africa, Benin Republic, and Rwanda. With four matches remaining, they must win all their remaining fixtures and hope their rivals drop points to stand a chance. Speaking in an interview with The Punch published on Saturday, the 46-year-old entertainer said the national team has enough quality to contend for both titles. However, he noted that since their 2013 AFCON triumph, the team has witnessed a significant decline.
According to him, the problem lies less with the players and more with how the team is prepared.The graduate of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) stressed that expecting players from different backgrounds, leagues, and clubs to come together and instantly defeat teams that have trained as a unit for years is unrealistic.Sharing his thoughts on how Nigeria could win both international tournaments, Basketmouth said:
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“So, if they can assemble these guys and get them to start training together early enough, they will develop an understanding. If you look at football, it’s about the passes, the timing and I think that was what we missed in terms of the game. I think we have some of the best players in the world, but we don’t just utilise them well enough.
“I believe that if the players will be selfless enough to ignore any kind of condition they find themselves in and just go for the win, they can win the next AFCON and the World Cup, both of them. Trust me, my own is practice, our boys are good but they don’t play often together as a team. You can have the 11 best players in the world, but if they don’t train together, and you put them together, they will lose”.
Going further, Basketmouth, who launched a record label Barons World Entertainment in 2014 said, “If you look at our players, the time of Sunday Oliseh, when we won the Olympics in 1996. Those guys were the team, the dream team, that was the team, we need a team like that again, that’s all we need. “And once we get a team, we will win, and the best part is they have the support, Nigeria has the support. With the excitement, the energy, the support, we will win.”
