Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said he was disappointed after his side's 2-0 defeat to France but tipped them to be a "wonderful" team within the next two years.
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The Super Eagles produced an impressive display in Brasilia before France seized control as the game drew to a close, with Paul Pogba's 79th-minute header and a Joseph Yobo own goal in injury time seeing Didier Deschamps' side through to the quarterfinals.
"It's a pity we lost," Keshi told reporters at the end of the game. "We can compete with any team in this tournament, and it depends on the players' heart and desire. The way we lost is not good.
"The players are very young and there is room for improvement. In the next two years, this team can be wonderful."
However, it remains to be seen whether Keshi will be in charge to see them make that improvement. Asked whether he would stay on as coach, he replied: "I don't know."
Nigeria could have been given a penalty in the first half when Patrice Evra was warned for holding Peter Odemwingie while defending a corner, while Blaise Matuidi escaped with a yellow card for a challenge that saw Ogenyi Onazi stretchered off.
Asked about referee Mark Geiger, Keshi said: "The referee is a human being and is bound to make some mistakes, but a lot of mistakes were questionable. I'm not happy about it, but he is the alpha and omega and decides what goes on the pitch.
"Any loss is painful, be it first round or a friendly game. When you see your team playing good football and doing what you asked them to do, and all of a sudden it turns around and you lose the game... I don't think we deserved to lose this way, but it's part of football.
"We don't want to start putting blame on one or two people. The blame is on the entire team. We play as a team. We win as a team. We lose as a team. So I don't want to be personal about anything here."
He added: "We had a very good game, but were unlucky to lose. The scoreline does not tell the whole story. We have to move on."
Yobo, meanwhile, agreed with Keshi that Nigeria could be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
"This team is growing," the 33-year-old said. "The World Cup was a big test for us and I thought we did very well. It's a good experience, especially as a young team and hopefully this experience will go a long way."
Victor Moses was also upbeat about the side's prospects, saying: "We've done pretty well as a whole team. We were good individually and collectively. We really enjoyed our football, but we've got to move on.
"It's definitely going to get better. We have a young side and we have to gel together as a team and get to know each other more. The young lads looked good today, and we just have to look ahead to the future."
Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama was at fault for Pogba's opener and admitted: "At this stage, if you have one slip-up you get punished. This is life. We're only going to learn from this and move on for the next generation."
John Obi Mikel defended Enyeama, saying: "We talked about set pieces and we knew this is where we might get found out a little bit. Mistakes happen, but our goalkeeper was fantastic for the entire game. He's been brilliant and some saves he made today were fantastic, so we hold nothing against him."
The Chelsea midfielder said he hoped Keshi stayed on, adding: "We will come back stronger. I hope he is the man to take us forward and he will be here for years to come."