Nigeria are considered to be one of the greatest teams in Africa and currently, they rank third on the continent. However, the Super Eagles still lack enough skilful players to compete against top European and South American teams.
Perhaps things would have been different if all the eligible players switched allegiance.
In football, eligibility to play for a national team is governed by FIFA rules. These rules determine which players can represent a specific country. Here are the key points:
1) A player must be a citizen or national of the country they wish to represent.
2) A player can represent the country where they were born, regardless of their parents’ nationality.
3) Players can also represent a country based on their parents’ or grandparents’ nationality.
The last rule is the most interesting as it makes eligible incredible players like Bukayo Saka, Jamal Musiala, Curtis Jones, David Alaba, Manuel Akanji, Karim Adeyemi, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori.
Bukayo Saka's parents, for example, both hail from Nigeria. That is why Saka is proud of his Nigerian heritage and admitted it was a difficult decision for him to choose England as his national team despite being born in Ealing, west London.
Jamal Musiala is another talent who rejected the Super Eagles. He was born to a British-Nigerian father and a German mother in Stuttgart, so he could choose among three countries as his national team: Germany, England and Nigeria.
In 2023 he explained why he chose Germany over Nigeria: "I had good talks with Nigeria and Germany. So it really just came down to me and where I’d feel the most comfortable. So I decided to go with Germany."
Curtis Jones, who has a Nigerian grandmother, has been amazing in Liverpool this season. He played for England throughout the age-grades, so considering his success with the Reds this campaign, he will almost certainly have his eyes set on a place in Southgate's squad.
If we take into account that Super Eagles already have impressive talent like Viktor Osimhen, here's what Nigeria XI could look like if eligible players switched allegiance.
