Super Eagles’ head coach Éric Sékou Chelle has named goalkeepers Stanley Nwabali and Kayode Bankole, defenders William Ekong, Calvin Bassey and Olaoluwa Aina, midfielders Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi, and forwards Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen and Simon Moses in his final list of 23 players for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Also in the final list are defenders Bruno Onyemaechi and Bright Osayi-Samuel, midfielders Raphael Onyedika and Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi, and forwards Samuel Chukwueze and Sadiq Umar.
Czech Republic-based defender Igoh Ogbu makes the final cut, alongside home-based midfielder Papa Daniel Mustapha, and Belgium-based forward Tolu Arokodare.
Nigeria will confront group C leaders Rwanda in Kigali on Friday, 21st March before taking on Zimbabwe’s Warriors at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo four days later.
Read Also:2026 WCQ: CAF Appoints Moroccan Referee For Rwanda Vs Super Eagles
Full List
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood FC, Saudi Arabia); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce SK, Turkey); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiacos FC, Greece); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England); Igoh Ogbu (SK Slavia Prague, Czech Republic)
Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Southampton FC, England); Papa Daniel Mustapha (Niger Tornadoes)
Forwards: Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Italy); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Ademola Lookman (Atalanta FC, Italy); Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Simon Moses (FC Nantes, France); Sadiq Umar (Valencia FC, Spain); Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Tolu Arokodare (KRC Genk, Belgium)
53 Comments
Why is Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi included in this list? Most players are selected based on regional criteria.
Alhassan Abdullahi and Umar Sadiq are in the list because Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi are not there..
This man is prepared to fail on his first duty,imagine snubbing Dessrs who scores an average on a goal or 2 in every match,what’s Chukwueze and Boniface whom are bench warmers doing there ? No time for past glory tins,a Nija coach is better than all this expats that they give this job to.
Calm down. According to another media the decision was between Dessers and Arokodare to be Osimhen’s deputy. Chelle chose Arokodare. I just looked at the stats for both players Dessers has 19 goals and 5 assists this in 41 games so far this season, Arokodare has 16 goals and 5 assists so n 29 games this season. For Dessers that’s about 58% effectiveness in front of goal while Arokodare is 72%. Also, remember that Dessers played against Chelle’s Mali and Chelle is close to the Belgian league given that it’s French as well.
The biggest mistake in this squad is dropping Frank onyeka, this guy single handedly kept Nigeria in the last nation cup till the final where iwobi was a complete flop, honestly Nigeria is only playing names in football. In that last nation cup, I was so happy that Ndidi got injured, so Nigeria could see what onyeka can do in his position, Ndidi is not as good as Nigeria thinks, the same as Bassey, Play him with average defender like semi Ajayi, Nigeria is in the position they are in this world cup qualifier is Bassey, for me Balogun and ekong still remains the best central defender Nigeria has. For me is better Ndidi go up as an attacking midfielder than defensive, another problem is since Bashiru is injured, I even prefer Olawale, sometimes I wonder if these coaches ever watched Nigeria players in their matches, that guy is one of the best attacking midfielder Nigeria has, if not the best, go and check his assist and goals, but because we play names instead of quality and that is causing us a lot of problems. I wish Nigeria good luck in this makes or mar world cup qualifier
Is frank onyeka injured? This midfield looks somehow unassuring!
Eguavon’s hatred for Dessers is obvious….I hope Chelly will have some balls soon.
I agree with you on this Midfield selection. If there was no interference, then a poor decision was made by Coach Eric Chelle in the squad selection particularly in the Midfield, where form or current performance was not the criteria used in Selection.
I can’t understand why very weak, , low-energy and poor-form Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo should be selected in the midfield role. They are also suffering low morale as their clubs in the EPL are relegation bound and are performing poorly recently.
The midfield should have consisted of young, energetic and fast players like Fisayo Dele-Basiru, Frank Onyeka and Christiantus Uche- not the crop of players in that area in Chelle’s squad.
Is it only Yusuf?? What of this Niger Tornadoes guy can he give more than Getafe Star Man Chrisantinus Uche where is Dessers why is NFF still imposing players on the coach this country Nigeria??? Do they realise we will miss world Cup?? Since when is making sure Hausa in the team more important than Making sure Nigeria represents Africa at world cup. I said I would not comment on Nigeria again as I am done with this country I guess nothing will ever change in this cursed country!!
Is onyeka injured?, why did Alhassan make the list ahead of a power house like Uche chrisantus,Sadiq ahead of dessers, aribo also made the list also sad..I think that Eric Chelle is a confused coach and may not win both games dur to poor midfield,I mean why invite all those strikers when it’s only osimehn that will play and leave midfield vonurable with weak players..
Good job chelle. I expected cryril dessers .aribo has to step up or be dropped for further games. He looks playing below par.
***REGULAR & CONSISTENT(DESSERS)……………….OUT
***BENCHWARMER & INCONSISTENT (BONIFACE)……….IN
INFACT, THIS IS EQUAVOEN LIST
NFF has a hand is in this list 100% how can Alhassan and the home based guy be in the team ahead of Frank in a crucial game like this………..and Cyriel Dessers is enough reason for some foreign born to shun playing for Nigeria……Not fair at all. Midfield is weird and We might not qualify.
What justifies Boniface in this list ahead of Dessers? I won’t be surprised if Dessers retires from the national team.
Satisfactory list, with the right tactics and fighting spirit then Nigeria can comfortably qualify for the world Cup.
The coach has said it before that he will not tamper with some of the players that have been on on the onset As am seeing it Boniface might not play both games,the coach will call up dessers and christsantus in subsequent games.
Why is Chysanthus Uche of Sevilla and Frank Onyeka of Augsburg not on this list? The midfield does not give me confidence in this Eagles team.
The spaces with be limited in both games. Therefore we needed players who can play in tight spaces Ejuke and christiatus to force ball from midfielder. Apart from Osihmen , the only striker i trust is Dessers. The list is not based solely on merit . we might not win boths games
Good list but I prefer Dessers and onyeka to Aribo and Boniface .
While alhasan Yusuf
Uche is better than Yusuf
Assume the coach knows what’s at stake before selecting his team. I don’t think NFF influenced him if not Musa would have made the team. It would be difficult to ignore Sadiq Umar with his current form for Valencia, and I remember mentioning here that Aribo is the most improved midfielder right now (in my opinion). I’m happy with Ogbu, but surprised Uche and Onyeka didn’t make the team. The coach may have sacrificed the defense for more attackers, and this suggests that he may be considering Aribo and Ndidi as potential central defenders if push comes to shove.
Terrible list, I am beginning to lose respect for this coach Mr chelle, how can he drop frank onyeka, our best defensive midfielder, it’s very un serious list, onyedika and aribo cannot give half of what onyeka will bring to the team, is this man blind? onyeka plays regularly in the Bundesliga and performs good, both for club and country, he will definitely regret it, this man haven’t been watching anything about the supereagles if he does he wouldn’t drop frank for yusuf and onyedika,
Onyedika and aribo are not good enough, watch onyedika against benin republic in our 2 1 lost he was totally out played he was confused, same in our home match lost to rwanda in uyo, he was just a flop, frank the tank is their boss in this role, I am totally disappointed in chelle and honestly I don’t believe in this team, ndidi is not good enough anymore and his back up are all below him, the only player who gives hope in that role is frank and this idiot chelle with all his experience drops a Bundesliga afcon finalist player for yusuf,MLS junk, aribo and ndidi religation battlers, onyedika who is still a boy. Na wao for this country, just when you think we are getting there, you will be shocked that we are not coming. What are you doing with four tall lanky striker, Sadiq boni osihmen tolu, my God two of this kind is enough, can’t you see dessers will bring something different, why am I more intelligent than a professional coach. Meeeen, I tire pass Mechelen.
Danger!!!!
We may not get anything with this selection. This is very poor.
Defense
What is the fitness level of ekong.
We have only three central defenders. Ogbu is new ( though good).
We have always struggled playing Calvin bassey in a two man defense.
Now with ekong not too fit, it will be disaster playing him and bassey.
Instead playing a three man defence will be good.
But again we have just three central defenders. What happens if one gets injured. Hmmm.
If we play two man defense we will lose these games. Mark my words.
Terrible midfield selection.
Alhassan and aribo. Alhassan may turn up his game but aribo had consistently failed with eagles. What special thing has he done to make him get selected.
When an Uche and onyeka would have been better options.
Please had onyeka who was one of the best midfielders at Afcon offended anyone?
Do we need to carry placard to send eguavin away from glass house?
This is horrible.
It’s a big failure for Uche and onyeka not to be in this squad. We have failed already before we played the matches.
Attack
Dessers should just retire from national team. Simple.
Comedian Boniface is in the team ahead of desser. Very funny.
The sluggish sodiq is back to represent the north.
We are not serious in this country.
We are not ready.
I just pity Oshimen and Ademola Lookman. They may not play in the world cup!!!!!!
I don`t understand why these guys always confuse the fans with their provisional list when they will always end up with the same same usual list with 1 or 2 meaningless inclusions.
Just invite your usual regular and cut us some slacks.
I pity this coach. Same NFF would point fingers at him if he failed.
NFF truly had input on the list. I just don’t want to mention names of players that don’t deserve to be in the list.
No Alhassan Yusuf gets into the team ahead to Frank Onyeka and Dele-Bashiru?
Nigeria will never cease to amaze you….
I knew it, and I believed it would happen, and it has happened.
If you are wondering why Nigeria is not moving forward as a nation, go no further; here is an example.
How would NFF/Eguavoen prefer Boniface to Dessers?
Why Balogun, Ejuke, Orban, Akpom and now Dessers did not make the final list?
What have Umar Sodiq and Boniface got to offer the Super Eagles that they have not offered before?
This is unfair to Dessers. It is a big shame to our players when we have our best players available to prosecute the remaining World Cup qualifiers, but the bench warmers are the ones making the final list.
I have warned Eric Chelle before now and he did not listen.
Chelle may destroy his career if the Super Eagles fail to impress.
For me seeing this list doesn’t give me confidence at all kę.
Boniface ba? Umar Sodiq nkọ? Why are you like this Eguavoen and NFF?
Dessers should just focus on his club football. Eguavoen and NFF Ajewomasan are the ones in charge. Whatever has a beginning must have an end one day.
No comment. Fingers crossed.
Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
I knew it might come to this. Who will regularly tolerate 29 matches unpaid bonuses apart from this set of players?
How would Chelle have an excuse to “future discard” non performing players without giving them his “trial” first?
I don’t want to blame NFF and Eguavoen yet for this list because it’s mostly the same players who put us in this fix in the first place. Let’s see if they can be redeemable because a coach who wants to make history with eagles will deliberately not try to sabotage himself, knowing he is new to the setup and has a lot at stake.
It’s like we are neutrals with Rwanda who also has a new coach with possibly new approach.
They took out musa and gave us a worse replacement with the hausa agenda in the air. They don’t care as long as they have their boys there whether they sabi the job or not. This is why we’ve not been able to progress as a country. Mediocrity and the feeling of entitlement has killed this country. The policy of ‘put him there’ as long as he’s from the north. How can u compare sadiq to dessers and that northern dude to frank onyeka in the midfield. Who would help ndidi keep the midfield water tight????? This country is finished!
The list is the kind of list you expect from Eguavoen and usual nff..
Untested Obasogie & Bankole over Adeleye who has been outstanding in Europe for the past 3 seasons .
Picking Alhassan over Christantus is criminal
Selecting ineffective and benchwarming Chukwueze and Boniface over Ejuke and Dessers is highly insane..
Where is Fisayo (he best midfielder in the team’s ecent matches). Fisayo returned to his team
OSHO played really well in the last match and has been a consistent starter for his team. How can you ignore a top 5 league defender..
That guy named Uche should have been in this team , he is the best midfielder we currently have , have taken my time to watch him play and the way he does his play is full of confidence, he shields the ball well and passes accurately. He is a combination of Mikel with shear power and he can also score goals also. Then I feel Onyedika should also be there. Anyway the list is good
The challenge I think is that people are not attentive enough to see influence the NFF have on the list of super eagles players for years. Who remembers when Eguavoen called onazi in the lead up to the qualifiers against Ghana? When he was interviewed , he stated later that it was not his decision; well if it wasn’t his decision then whose decision was it? At the time he was playing for serie D in italy, many eyebrows were raised but evidently some powerful people must influenced his inclusion but after many dissenting views from football fans, his name was excluded from the final list.
Who remembers the arrogance of Amaju Pinnick who publicly boasted that he was the one who instructed Rohr to include Ahmed Musa to the 2018 world cup roaster. If we pay attention, we will realize that the main challenge with our football is the people at the Glass House at Abuja. When Osimhen had that public spat with Finidi, he stated that “He has no God Fathers in the NFF”; that statement is quite weighty because it suggest that even the players know that some players have God Fathers at the Glass House and these Dons determine who plays and who don’t. How can anyone explain how Yusuff makes the list ahead of Uche Chrisantus? How on earth does Sadiq or Boniface make the team ahead of Dessers? I am sure these crooks did all they could to include Ahmed Musa but the coach must have stood his ground. At the end, he was forced to make concessions. 1st they must have insisted on local players, who remembers Gusau when quizzed on the choice of Chelle, he stated that they wanted somebody who will watch and work with the chan team and ” there is no way he will not see one or two players from the local league that can be included in his team” (I paraphrase). The problem is that this is a poisoned chalice that similarly killed Finidi’s SE coaching career. He was deceived into calling up dubious names like players from the local league and Tanzania who looked clearly out of their depth against Benin Republic.
2ndly, they must have insisted on the federal character, Gusau, being a northerner must have insisted on Sadiq Umar, Papa Daniel and Alhassan Yusuf. This is the exact challenge with Africa in general because we never do anything based on merit but sentiments. What Chelle does not know is that the same people who twisting his arm to include these dubious players will be the same ones who will call for his head when push comes to shove. Having stated all this, I wish the team success and hope they qualify. On a positive note, Ogbu made the list and only the NFF can explain why this guy has not gotten a callup till now. Eguavoen and the clueless glass house should explain why it took a foreign coach to call Arokodare. Good to see Nathan Tella back!
But Sadiq Umar based on current form deserves to be part of the team,Papa Daniel is a great talent…I would have both players in my team…
Greehurrf. You can do better than this. I always respect your views. Sodiq over desers? Papa Daniel over Uche. Common. I really respect your posts but this one is out of it
@Christian Ministries in Nigeria,Sadiq is a great talent,always has,only experienced a run of bad luck at Real Sociedad..Prior to that move he was blowing Spain away with fantastic performances every week.Remember his exploits at the Olympics..
His struct of purple patch at Valencia is not a surprise this is typical Sadiq..He has nice footwork,great technique,though he has his shortcomings but an on-form Sadiq is very dangerous!Right now he’s in great shape…!
Dessers has shown promise since moving to Scotland,though i would have expected same when he played in the serie a..The only player i would have dropped in the attack for Dessers is Boniface who has done a bad job so far for our team..
Without doubt I will pick Papa Daniel over any player in the attacking midfield of the super eagles because he’s an unbelievable talent..His ability on the ball is magical,bundle of skills,sweet left foot and can shoot from a distance…Papa Daniel Mustapha deserves his place in the team,Please go and watch both legs of Ghana v Nigeria chan qualifier after that give me your honest opinion of the lad..
However,i will respect the coaches decision,be of the opinion he has seen tapes of his players current shifts for their clubs before picking his team..
@Naijabias I hail oh!
Where is deo, Dr Drey, and many other meaningly contributors? Have they finally given up on eagles finally?
This is a serious gamble, and I’m not sure it’s one that will pay off. Our midfield has been a major issue for a while, and looking at the squad list, I don’t see how it’s getting solved this time.
First off, where is Dele Bashiru? The guy is fit and was on the bench in their last match. Why ignore him? if there’s any Nigerian midfielder right now with a genuine attacking threat, it’s him. Leaving him out is baffling. And then, to make matters worse, Frank Onyeka—our iron man, our enforcer—is also dropped? That’s madness! We’re going to need him, especially for that tricky away fixture against Rwanda. Without him, who’s going to provide the bite in midfield?
Alhassan Yusuf is a good player, but he’s prone to giving away fouls in dangerous areas. Joe Aribo? Let’s be honest, he’s been consistently underwhelming. Mustapha is still a newbie at this level and I heard he hasn’t played a single NPFL game in the last 5 weeks,, looking for club in Europe. Why invite him over a player like Uche Chrisantus, who has been firing from all cylinders in LA Liga. Again, while Alex Iwobi is a class act, he’s never had that ruggedness needed for tough African battles. Besides, Fulham has been using him more as a wide player lately, so how exactly is he expected to dominate the center of the park against a physical African sides, a problem he has been facing for years now?
Chelle is taking a big risk here. Midfield battles win or lose games, and right now, ours looks like it could get overrun. If this works, he’ll look like a genius. If it doesn’t, well… let’s just say, the criticism will be loud.
This is NFF supervised list with its usual ethnic balancing.
The inclusion of certain players over another says it all. How can a reasonable one choose to exclude Frank Onyeka, who was easily our best player at the last AFCON and who’s also key feature for his Bundesliga Augsburg ahead of a MLS player, Alhassan Yusuf. This clearly defies logic.
One player who everyone has been expecting to looking forward to his inclusion is Getafe strong man Chrisantus Uche and has again been overlooked. Can’t explain the rationale for the invitation of Aribo beyond being a regular for Southampton in EPL. I think with what we have seen of his game in the national team over the period, we should have given consideration to others new players like Chrisantus Uche and perhaps Kelechi Nwakali who’s turned the corner with his Championship side, Barnsley. Both have far more qualities to improve the team than Joe Aribo.
It’s so sad how NFF is toiling with our qualifications which is already in a precarious situation. I’m afraid there’s no spectacular about the list aside having a new manager in the saddle.
The make-up of the list is a clear indication that our football administrators are the architect of our football woes over the years.
Umar is not good. Dessar is not good. Boniface is not good.
God bless the coach for dumping these useless so-called players l named.
Umar is not good. Boniface is not good. Desser is not good. Okoya should have been here. Ndidi is not good enough to be in there.
You all complain too much, if the coach didn’t include arokodare, ogu and tella, you all will complain, you all complaining abt alhassan inclusion simply bcos he wasn’t playing from the top league and not bcos anyone of you have watched his of recent, the coach is new and can’t invite everybody, Desser have gotten chances same as boniface and they’ve both not impressed, aside boniface present situation, I dnt think any coach with his senses will prefer desser ahead of him, let’s allow the coach work.
Sometimes when people raise objections to some nasty things happening in Nigeria, some people will begin to say our wahala is too much. And that the coach cannot call everyone.
But who is saying the coach should call everyone. Common let us be sincere
How can someone invite two inactive home based players ahead of players like adeleye, chrisantus,
How can a sane system or coach invite players like alhassan in place of an onyeka doing good in Germany
How can a sane coach and system invite an aribo ahead of Uche
How can a sane coach invite s sodiq ahead of desser who has been extremely good in Europe in the past three seasons. For goodness sodiq just came back from injury.
How can a sane coach and system only have three natural central defenders for two world cup matches. Ekong is 31 for goodness sake. An Osho should have been the seventh defender in that team in case of incasity. Haba.
The middle is too thin. Uche and onyeka are needed in that middle for two important matches. Alhassan season just started in the USA.
I know it may not be the fault of the coach only because there is a corrupt system in place.
So when some people come her and say our wahala is too much I am surprised.
We can be very irresponsible in this country by overlooking the truth and just continue to allow lies and corruption to go on.
This selection has no merit except for some few cases.
It has no balance for two must win games.
We were here when finidi was imposing tanimu on us. Where is he now.
Nonsense.
I also want to appeal to those who always say Nigeria is finished to desist from such.
If you live in Nigeria and you say Nigeria finished then you are saying you are finished.
Why should you confess wrong things over your life and family because of some people’s foolishness.
My Nigeria is not finished. It’s the soul that sinned that must die.
They are doing corruption let them face the wrath when it’s time.
But my Nigeria is not finished..
They are using Papa Daniel as a pun. He has been on trials, how else can they increase their bargaining chip except to prove that he is in the Super Eagles A team? If the club was dragging their feet before, they will agree to their terms speedily.
You will see people singing the praise of Papa Daniel for goodness sake! He is not even a quarter of the player Iwuala was but do you see them inviting Iwuala now? The deceit is mind boggling, just allow them to sell Papa Daniel to europe and you will never see him again in the SE team, proving they only included him in the team to line their pockets. Where is olorunleke the goal keeper? He is suddenly not good enough for the SE?
I used to be a fan of Sadiq until i found out that he has been a big flop in the national team yet i wonder why he keeps getting invites. Dresser has been in form since the beginning of the season yet didn’t get an invite but it took Sadiq to score in just four matches to get an invite to the super eagles. There are about five to six players in this list that are not even supposed to be on that list. Sadiq Umar,Alhassan Yusuf,the inactive papa Daniel Mustapha , Victor Boniface and the two goal keepers. How did they find their way to this list seems to amaze me. They left out Cyriel Dessers,Uche Chrisantus,Frank Onyeka ,Chuba Akpom, and Gift Orban. Nigeria is finished
Good list .full of dark horses .
Chelle wants a dynamic Midfield.
Only creative midfielders like Alhassan can interpret it .
Good luck Chelle Nigerians Will be amazed with the outcome of the games
As far I didn’t see nacho and musa, the list is not to bad
Giving an invite to touringnaya a central defender To replace an attacker shows this people are clueless.
While it’s great to have another central defender in the team as the three initially invited are not enough (I mentioned it yesterday)
But it shows someone is not thinking right in the first place. There’s a problem. And it had been like this.
Invitation cannot be totally perfect but there are clear indication of falsehood with nff and coaches invitations.
What is that memes boy Boniface(after so many call ups with his rigid football. Never has he been impressive..)and relegation threatened club boy Aribo doing on the list?
They will not make the list in a sane football country… Smh…
A beg too much talk no dey full basket. Leave my Aribo and Boniface alone. 🙂
Lol..Deo my man!
it’s totally unfair for a Dessers, Chrisantus , Akpom and Onyeka to be overlooked. They’re simply being preforming better than most.
Why pick an Alhassan over Onyeka? What’s Papa brining that Chrisantus haven’t shown in a much stronger league?
In as much, ı haven’t been a big fan as regards his previous performances in the Super Eagles, there’s no way, Dessers should be dropped for Sadiq or even Boniface. He is our top striker right now bar Osimhen. His goals prove it.
Well, I can only wait and see what the new gaffer has up his sleeves. no matter, ı am still Nigerian and would always wish the team the best. hopefully, we get the 6 points.
On a second thought, ONLY 16 PLAYERS can take to the field on each match days. That means unless we are winning well, most of those dubious calls are not smelling the field.
It’s a good thing your desired players weren’t called up. The called players know people are waiting in the wings to snatch their places if they mess up.
Let’s hope Chelle’s first 11 against Rwanda don’t flop..