By Pascal Ibe

Claim

An X user, @Nsukka_okpa claimed that Nigeria failed to play at the World Cup during Muhammadu Buhari’s time as President

Verdict

This claim is FALSE. Checks showed that the Nigerian Super Eagles played at the Russia 2018 World Cup during Buhari’s first tenure as president.

Full Text

An X user, @Nsukka_okpa has claimed that Nigeria failed to play at the World Cup during Muhammadu Buhari’s time as President

According to him, this was a result of the policies and economic hardship allegedly imposed by the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The X user wrote “We no go World Cup for Buhari tenure.
We no go World Cup for Tinubu tenure.
Na APC me I Dey blame.

The post garnered over 30k views and more than 2k likes on the X platform.

Background

The X user reacted after Zimbabwe held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday in a 2026 World Cup qualifier, shattering the Super Eagles’ chances of reaching the competition.

With the draw, Nigeria is still rooted in fourth place with seven points from six games.

Only one team is guaranteed an automatic slot from the nine groups in the African qualification series. The four best losers go for a play-off, a prerequisite for an inter-continental playoff.

Verification

Checks showed that the Nigerian Super Eagles played at the Russia 2018 World Cup during Buhari’s first tenure as president.

Buhari ruled Nigeria for eight years from 2015-2023.

During this period, Russia and Qatar hosted the two World Cup Tournaments in 2018 and 2023 respectively. But Nigeria only participated in the 2018 competition.

At the 2018 Russia World Cup, a goal four minutes from time from Argentina’s left-back, Marcus Rojo, took Argentina into the second round as they defeated Nigeria 2-1.

Croatia advanced as winners of Group D with the maximum nine points after beating Iceland 2-1, and Nigeria was just minutes away from joining them before central defender Rojo superbly volleyed home a Gabriel Mercado cross from the right.

Conclusion

Nigeria played in one of the two World Cup Tournaments during Muhammadu Buhari’s time as president. Therefore, this claim is FALSE.