Opinion
By Chuka Nnabuife
WHAT a World Cup of boring displays. I have never encountered a Mundial marked by such epochs of flip-flops.
Three days of watching uninspiring football are almost making me lose enthusiasm for the very tournament I have been anticipating for the past four years.
My excitement is waning. Perhaps the absence of my national team, the Super Eagles of Nigeria, is contributing to my “loss of appetite”. But who would really be upbeat about the whole waffle-baffle unfolding across Mexico, Canada and the United States of America?
A series of unprecedented developments that do little to promote good football is making me, an avid fan, lose some emotional attachment to both the beautiful game and the always eagerly awaited Mundial.
I never imagined I would witness a time when the powerful football governing body, FIFA, would take a back seat on football matters, let alone during a World Cup. It was equally unimaginable that host countries, rather than FIFA, would bear the burden of referees duly assigned to officiate matches. The opening ceremonies in the three host nations lacked the required quality and global entertainment appeal. Only God knows what certified officials, players, coaches, pressmen and support staff are going through in the name of covering the tournament.
Truly, some factors have taken the excitement out of football’s flagship event. Watching the matches, goals are not arriving with any engaging frequency. Tactically, the teams are all cagey. The games are characterised by back passes, side passes, congested play, covert manoeuvres and less expressive use of the ball.
Teams now prefer robotic players who fit neatly into triangular and diamond formations. They cut off large sections of the field of play as though ticket holders had paid and crossed continents merely to watch matches being played on street corners with “monkey posts” and in neighbourhood football fashion.
They make it seem as though using the entire pitch of a World Cup stadium, measuring 105 metres by 68 metres, is unnecessary. Instead, they form a ring around one section of the goal area and all 20-plus players on the field are left hustling for the ball, searching for the ball and preparing for fouls.
Indeed, they are underplaying football at this World Cup. It is as though this generation of footballers and gaffers has learnt how to un-play football and has come to the Mundial to exhibit it without shame.
In this era of “playing from the back” and “zonal marking”, there is hardly anything one does not see — from goalkeepers operating in the opposition half to defenders struggling for position alongside their strikers. Defenders now exchange passes inside their own 18-yard box without any sense of urgency.
Perhaps in subsequent matches we shall behold the dribbles, the lobs, the thunderous shots, the runs and the crosses that make football the showpiece of world sport. Sadly, I have not seen much of them.
If this is the best football on offer from this generation of players, in a tournament that is supposed to showcase the very pinnacle of the game, then the boys need to do more.
Football is, first and foremost, entertainment. The World Cup is meant to be the prime thriller.
• *Nnabuife* , FNGE, FSNA, author and journalist writes from Awka, Anambra State via chukafornaija@gmail.com. 08026472357
A.I
June 14, 2026
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