The 2026 FIFA World Cup starts on Thursday 11 June. Nigeria isn't in it for the second consecutive tournament. Nigerian players are on at least six of the forty-eight squads. The conversation this opens is one the diaspora has been having quietly for months.

The Super Eagles lost to DR Congo on penalties in the CAF Play-off final in November 2025. That was it. Second consecutive World Cup missed. The NFF filed a petition with FIFA over DR Congo's eligibility. FIFA rejected it. The case went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The tournament starts before CAS rules.

England's squad includes Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke. All three are of Nigerian heritage. Germany has players of Nigerian descent. Norway, France, Austria, Switzerland and Canada too. The full list is long enough that you could follow the tournament watching only players who grew up in a household where Nigeria was home. Or a language. Or a conversation at the dinner table.

For the Nigerian community in the UK, the World Cup this year is not straightforward. Supporting England means supporting the national team that many of you live inside every day anyway. It also means watching Saka score in a tournament Nigeria's system failed to qualify for. The joy and the grief aren't separate. They arrive together.

The structural argument about Nigerian football is well-established at this point. The domestic league is underfunded. Academies do the real development work and then lose the players to Europe before the federation can cap-tie them. Bonuses are delayed. Coaches are changed before cycles can complete. The players who might have played for Nigeria chose somewhere more reliable.

The World Cup runs until 19 July. Forty-eight teams. Sixty-three matches. For the Nigerian in the stands in Atlanta or Kansas City or Vancouver, wearing another country’s shirt, the tournament is both a celebration and a loss. A particular kind of loss. One that comes from watching a country you love represented by everyone except itself.

The games start Thursday. Nigeria's presence is everywhere in it. Nigeria's absence is what most people will be thinking about.