Olu of Warri: Super Eagles Played Best Football in 26 Years at AFCON 2025

The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, has hailed the Super Eagles’ performance at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco as their finest display in 26 years.

Nigeria finished the tournament with a bronze medal, falling short of their ambition to capture a fourth continental crown after missing out on qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

The monarch, who visited the team in Morocco to show solidarity, spoke in an interview with BBC News Pidgin, describing himself as a long-time follower of the national team since 1992.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s football history, Ogiame Atuwatse III recalled the mid-1990s as the golden era of the Super Eagles, citing their dominance between 1994 and 1998 before a decline set in after the team’s defeat to Denmark at the 1998 World Cup and the Nations Cup co-hosted with Ghana in 2000.

‘The way the team played in the last four or five matches (at AFCON), I don’t know whether it is because we did not qualify for the World Cup and there was so much disappointment and all of that. I’ve been watching football since 1992,’ he said.

‘The best I have seen the Super Eagles play was years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, then going into France 1998. We had five years that I believe Nigeria played the best football in the world.

‘And after Denmark defeated us in Denmark 98, we started going down. 2000 when we hosted the Nations Cup, when we lost the penalty shootout, in my mind, the Super Eagles started going down. And we started showing the signs again two years ago when we reached the final of the Nations Cup. We met the host in the final, so we were going on fuse.

‘As someone who has been observing the Super Eagles for a long time, the last four, five matches (at 2025 AFCON), may be the best football I have seen Nigeria play in 26 years.’