Attendance List Minus Nigeria, by Patrick Omorodion

Patrick Omorodion's fond memories of being a young Mass Server at St. Christopher’s Catholic School on Ikot-Ekpene Street, near the famous Mile 1 market in the Diobu area of Port Harcourt, are still vivid, particularly the song "When the roll is called up yonder" that he loved so much in his Hymn Book.

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At 14 years old, Omorodion would imagine himself standing with Fr. Christopher Obieh, wearing the red and white garments of the altar boys, feeling excited and chosen to make the roll call on the last day, a feeling that made him look forward to Sundays.

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He took his responsibilities seriously, ensuring he was part of the preparation for the Sunday service with their Cathechist, Mr. Ekpeyong, supervising, and making sure he was ready for the rehearsal, not taking it for granted that he would be chosen to serve every Sunday.

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The song "When the roll is called up yonder" still resonates with him, with its lyrics "When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there" still memorable.

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Omorodion recalls this song today because in four days, the roll call by FIFA for 48 countries to begin the World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the USA will start, and his country, Nigeria, will not be there, painfully for a consecutive time.

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Nigeria's failure to qualify is attributed to the players not doing their homework well, unlike Omorodion who rehearsed before every Sunday Mass to ensure he wouldn't fumble and embarrass Fr. Obieh, with the buck stopping with the players who failed to overcome obstacles placed by their opponents.

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Nigeria's Super Eagles were in a group with South Africa, Benin Republic, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, but failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, despite being the highest ranking team in their group at the time of the qualifying matches.

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Africa's representation in the World Cup has increased to 10, with the teams that qualified including, in alphabetical order, Algeria, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia, with Cape Verde making their debut.

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Nigeria missed their group ticket to South Africa but got a lifeline through the playoffs, where they beat Gabon on penalties after drawing 1-1 in the semi-finals, but lost to DR Congo via penalties after drawing 1-1 in the final.

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DR Congo picked the African playoffs ticket and also defeated Jamaica to pick the remaining one slot to make up the 48th country in the 2026 World Cup, leaving Nigerians to watch Africa's 10 representatives compete for the coveted trophy, with the final match scheduled for July 19.

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The Atlas Lions of Morocco raised the African bar by being the continent's first semi-finalist in 2022, sparking arguments on whether an African team could go beyond the semi-finals to the final this year and possibly win it.

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Africa's number one football administrator, CAF president Dr. Patrice Motsepe, is already dreaming big, expressing confidence in African teams doing well by matching the best in the world and possibly going ahead to win the trophy for the first time.

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Motsepe stated, "We are confident that the 10 African teams at the 2026 World Cup will make us proud and that an African nation will be champions, what we lacked in the past was self-belief, Morocco changed that in Qatar four years ago, we can match the best in the world."

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Two of Africa's greatest players, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha and El Hadji Diouf, also spoke on the chances of African teams, with Diouf believing that African teams were going to the World Cup to win it, particularly his home team, the Teranger Lions of Senegal.

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Diouf said, "Take my own country, we have amazing players like Sadio (Mane), Idrissa (Gueye) and Edouard (Mendy), they can match stars from any country, the 2026 World Cup — Africa is going there to win the tournament."

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Okocha was cautiously optimistic, believing that the Asian and North American teams could spring surprises, saying "We talk a lot about the title contenders from Europe and South America, but what about the North Americans and Asians, they are improving rapidly."

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Okocha concluded by saying, "I will be very happy to be proven wrong, African footballers have shocked the world before, let us hope it happens again," as the World Cup kicks off, leaving the question of whether African countries will confirm Motsepe's confidence in them to prove Okocha wrong.