Aluko, however, agreed that the timing of the players’ strike action was “wrong”.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former England international and broadcaster Eniola Aluko has insisted that the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was due to their poor performance in the play-off against the Democratic Republic of Congo, rather than the players’ strike prior to the encounter.
The former Chelsea player shared her views recently while appearing as a guest on the latest edition of The Playzone podcast.
The Nigerian team embarked on a strike aimed at forcing the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay their entitlements just two days before their crucial African play-off semi-final against Gabon.
Despite the industrial action, the Super Eagles went on to win that encounter, only to suffer a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to DR Congo in the African play-off final.
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Many pundits have traced the team’s failure to book a place at the World Cup to the distraction caused by the strike before the Gabon game.
However, Aluko, who earned over 100 caps for the England women’s national team, disagreed, arguing that the boycott did not ultimately cost the Eagles a place at the 2026 edition of the global showpiece.
While agreeing that the timing of the strike was “wrong”, she attributed the failure to a lack of clinical delivery against the Leopards.
“We are not going to the FIFA World Cup because we lost to DR Congo. They were not good enough on the day,” Aluko said. She added: “I agree we should have won, but going on strike is not the reason we lost the game.
“I do think the timing was wrong. If players agree to do that, they are not focusing one hundred per cent on what they need to do. My point is that the Federation and management should eliminate the chance for any player to do that. It’s a simple thing: just pay people on time so they don’t have an excuse when they lose.”
