By Ori Martins
Be it in tradition, religion, social or meta physics, there are certain figures or numbers that usually invoke elements of myths and legends.
Numbers like 3, 7, 10, 12, 40, 70 are considered symbolic, mystical and revolutionary.
In global football, 6 is critically and essentially the magic number. Remarkably, the Flamingos’ victory in the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women World Cup Finals has reaffirmed this legend. That is, when the last figure of any tournament year is 6!
In 1956, the World Cup defending champions was Germany. The Europeans lifted the title in 1954 in Switzerland. Yet, the player who was voted the pioneer winner of the prestigious Ballon d’or was Stanley Mathew, an English attacking winger. He was 41 years and never got cautioned by a referee in his over 700 caps for both club (Blackburn Rovers) and country.
He was victorious ahead of the legendary Ferenc Puskas of Hungary and the iconic Alfredo Di Stefano who historically played for Argentina and Spain – an Argentine by birth, later naturalized a Spainish.
A decade later, in 1966, England staged the World Cup Finals amid controversies. Pele, who was central to Brazil’s 1958 and 1962 triumphs, was fouled out in the first game. And the South Americans never recovered as they could not qualify from the group.
It was also in 1966 in England that the World Cup got missing. It was recovered through the help of a police dog. In the same 1966, England earned a mess reputation for scoring a goal in which the ball never crossed the goal-line in the final against Germany.
What was playing out in the football world was replicated in Nigeria. The concept of 6 as magic figure was made possible by Shooting Stars in 1976 when the Ibadan club, complete with Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal, Kule Awesu, Best Ogedegbe, Felix Owolabi, and others lifted the CAF Cup. The chairman was the inimitable Lekan Salami, a gentleman whose second name would have been Mr Football!
It was the first time any Nigerian club would be winning a CAF organized competition; although Rangers had reached the final of the CAF Champions League the previous year, Shooting brought the inaugural gold cup outside the country.
Also in 1976, both Enyimba and Heartland teams came into being. The late Chief Jerry Enyeazu, an excellent sports administrator, was the brains behind their respective formation.
Another symbolic event in 1976 was Nigeria’s spectacular performance in the Nations Cup Finals in Ethiopia, where the Eagles struck bronze.
As a matter of fact, Fantastic Muda Lawal’s goal against Egypt in the third place game is still being considered as the most sensational strike ever recorded in the history of the competition.
The football world was both astonished by and outraged at the acceptance of Diego Maradona’s Hand of God Goal against England in a World Cup quarter final encounter on June 22, 1986, in Mexico. An African, a Tunisia, was the referee, and Maradona lifted the World Cup for Argentina for the second time.
Back home, Shooting Stars’ epic moment of a decade ago was recalled with a dramatic abysmal display in 1986 when the erstwhile African and Nigerian champions were relegated to the lower division of the league.
Sadly, the man who shot Shooting Stars into decline was the player whose skills and overall contributions made the side formidable and victorious in the intervening periods in Nigeria and Africa – Muda Lawal. He burst into tears when he realized his goal for Super Stores had sent his former club into relegation.
But when Enyimba’s left defender, Mutiu Adegoke fired his erstwhile team, Shooting Stars into relegation on the last day of the Nigerian Premier League, in Aba, about 2006, he was all joy!
Interestingly, Spartans of Owerri, created in 1976, became Iwuanyanwu Nationale in 1986. The team won all its home matches in Owerri except the draw game against Leventis United of Ibadan. Leventis were eventually crowned league champions even when it was their first outing in the elite division.
It must be recorded that 1986 was the first time Nigeria failed to qualify for Nations Cup since 1976 in Ethiopia. Zambia stopped Nigeria after playing a 0-0 draw in Lagos and beating the Super Eagles 1-0 in Lusaka in the return leg. It was Muda Lawal’s last game for Nigeria; after he emerged as the first ever African to play in five consecutive Nations Cup Finals (1976 /1984).
The two matches against Zambia were the stead upon which Pat Ekeji, then ACB coach, is mentioned among Super Eagles coaches! Equally, the qualifier against Zambia made Bengy Nzeako popular as a real touchline wizard. Then he was for playing for Iwuanyanwu Nationale after a spell at Heartland.
The Nations Cup Finals in Egypt ’86 provided another window to indicate that figure 6 is actually magical. It was the first time Africans came to realize that a red card could be suspended, allowing the player to play!
Africans were dazzled when CAF overruled that Egyptian lead striker, Tahor Abouzied’s red card (combination of two yellow cards), and ruled him eligible for the final encounter against Cameroon. Until that moment, most African fans and football authorities never knew that a red card could be suspended for the future.
Significantly, what Nigeria’s sporting press tagged as the country’s biggest global achievement, took place in 1996 in Atlanta, USA. The Dream Team One led by Kanu Nwankwo, triumphantly emerged Olympic soccer champions after perfectly defeating Brazil and Argentina in the semi final and final matches.
That was the first time a non- European country would be bedecked with the Olympic soccer medal in about 60 years! It was in 1996, another confirmation that figure 6 has magic flavours.
Sadly, Africans could not see these Olympic stars play in the Nations Cup played in South Africa in 1996 as diplomatic relations between the two countries became frosty. Then head of state, the late Gen Sani Abacha, ordered Nigeria not to participate in the South Africa ’96 Nations Cup Finals.
For the second time in eight years, Shooting Stars qualified for the final of the CAF Champions League and lost to Zamalek of Egypt, in 1984 (it was Odegbami’s last outing for the club) and 1996.
Indeed, 1996 was a mixed grill for Nigeria’s teaming football fans.
The factors that led to Nigeria’s non- qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany were gradual, slow but steady. The lackadaisical attitude of most of the senior players; administrative ineptitude of NFF officials, as well as the unprofessional bearing of the technical crew led by the late Christian Chukwu – all combined to deny Nigeria the World Cup ticket. Yet, it was figure 6 at play.
Incidentally, Commodore Emeka Omeruah, generally regarded as the country’s best NFF president died in December 2006. His administration qualified Nigeria for the World Cup for the first time; lifted the Nations Cup title for the second time; produced Rashidi Yekini as the Nigerian player to be named African Player of the Year; led Golden Eaglets to U-17 World Cup glory in 1993, and then the Atalanta ’96 success. The performance is still unparalleled.
For the first time in about 35 years, Rangers bounced back to reckoning, winning the Premier League title in 2016, in a most dramatic fashion.
As Rangers were celebrating their 2016 heroics, Heartland were painfully dragged to the pit of relegation for the first time in 40 years. In England, Leicester, against all odds, did the unbelievable, lifting the 2016 EPL title.
This is 2026 with its controversial World Cup officiating that favoured Messi and Argentina. Ultimately, Messi, one of the best players the world has ever seen, retired, ditto C. Ronaldo. And the Flamingos’ victory in Morocco!
