Former Super Eagles captain and coach Sunday Oliseh has said the struggles of the national team are caused by a lack of top players.

Oliseh, widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s greatest midfielders, made the comment in an interview on Play Zone, which has been circulating on social media. He said he was embarrassed that many people refused to acknowledge the real problem with the team.

“The reason why we’re failing makes me embarrassed because people don’t want to talk about it. The reason we’re failing is that the players are not good enough. We don’t have good players,” Oliseh said.

He compared the present squad with earlier generations, when Nigerian stars regularly played for Europe’s elite clubs. He pointed to Finidi George and himself at Ajax, and Taribo West at Inter Milan, among others who featured in the Champions League week after week.

According to Oliseh, Victor Osimhen is now the only standout name, and Galatasaray, though a big club, does not play in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

However, Ademola Lookman joined Atletico Madrid from Atalanta last season, while Samuel Chukwueze returned to AC Milan for the 2026/27 season after his loan spell at Fulham.

The comments come after a disappointing run for Nigeria.

The Super Eagles missed qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, finished third at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and suffered a 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the 2027 AFCON qualifiers. Nigeria are second in Group L with three points, three behind Guinea-Bissau.