Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has named 24 players for the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffs, reports Completesports.com.
Captain William Troost-Ekong , ace forward Victor Osimhen, goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, and defenders Bright Osayi-Samuel and Calvin Bassey were included in the squad.
Chelle also included 89-cap midfielder Alex Iwobi, exciting young defender Benjamin Fredericks, midfielders Frank Onyeka and Wilfred Ndidi, and forwards Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman in his team.
The Malian also recalled goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and Spain-based forward Chidera Ejuke, with midfielder Raphael Onyedika and forwards Tolu Arokodare, Jerome Akor Adams and Olusegun Olakunle also on the roster.
Read Also:Chelle: Winning World Cup Playoffs Will Drive Super Eagles AFCON Dream
The players are scheduled to fly into Morocco from their different bases in Europe and elsewhere, to converge in Rabat on Monday, 10th November.
The Super Eagles will take on Gabon in the first semi-final scheduled for the 22,000 – capacity Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat next week Thursday.
Full List
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Maduka Okoya (Udinese FC, Italy)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Benjamin Fredericks (Dender FC, Belgium)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain); Olakunle Olusegun (Pari Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)
By Adeboye Amosu
33 Comments
Finally adupe ooo, good list with all expected players. Let’s go for the win guys.
Honestly, I can’t fault this squad list. It is packed with deadly flavours needed to bleed out victory from these games.
I think it is a very strong squad, the strongest SE squad I have seen in a while.
Though I would like to make a case for Onuachu’s inclusion but the Turkey based heavy header is a “high maintenance” strikers. They team requires a lot of modification of tactics and approach to get the best out of him.
We don’t have the time or appetite for such modifications. We need strikers who will hit the ground running, never stopping until they reach finish line which Arokodare and Akor Adams have done for this team.
Some will argue against the inclusion of Yusuf in midfield but, if he is fit, he will fly. Plus, Yusuf is versatile.
The defence is solid
The midfield is sound
The attack is superb.
It goes without saying that ths list fills me with much confidence, joy and excitement.
My thoughts exactly on Onuachu. Perhaps he’ll only need him for long camping programs, like the Afcon or WC, when we hopefully qualify. No time to experiment with anyone he’s not previously worked with for the playoffs.
I pray everyone stays injury-free in their league matches this weekend. Will be sad to read of any last-minute replacements.
Akansanmiro was in the initial list but he was injured yesterday in their league cup hence the need to relpace him with Alhassan Yusuf.Chelle has been wonderdul in terms of selecting the best legs to represent us.
Aphyllidegreat!!
@Deo he should have invited Onu(Onuachu) regardless…
This playoff is the only golden opportunity will have to the world cup and we need all hands on deck…
Onu is flying high in the Turkish league with a small team where you have osimhen that is surrounded with stars (their icardi, sane and the rest)…the Turkish league player of the month! Haba!!
Sometimes this invitation serves as encouragement… Moral booster…you are letting them know that yes we watch, see what you doing and we appreciate how you are flying the country’s flag over there… no be all about come kick ball…
### AS IT WAS SAID PREVIOUSLY ##
THE NEXT MAJOR FOCUS POINT**
AS CRUCIAL WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS PLAY-OFF IS GETTING CLOSER DAY BY DAY. IF WE TRUELY WANT TO SUCCEED IN WINNING THE REST OF THE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS PLAY-OFF MATCHES & QUALIFY FOR NEXT WORLD CUP., MY ADVICE FOR ERIC CHELLE AND HIS ASSISTANTS IS STRICTLY BASE ON WHO & WHICH PLAYERS TRUELY DESERVE TO BE INVITED FOR NEXT REMAINING WORLD CUP QUALIFIER PLAY-OFF MATCHES.
## ERIC CHELLE SHOULD GO & ANALYTICALLY WATCH THE PERFORMANCE OF LAST TEN CONSECUTIVE MATCHES EACH PLAYERS HAS PLAYED IN THE PAST FOR SUPER EAGLE TO REALLY KNOW WHICH PLAYERS ACTUALLY HAVE THE FIGHTING SPIRIT(aggressiveness), QUALITY, POTENTIAL & TRUELY DESERVE TO BE INVITED FOR NEXT REMAINING CRUCIAL WORLD CUP QUALIFIER PLAY-OFF MATCHES.
*** FOR INSTANCE:
@(1). the performance of the last ten matches BONIFACE played is ZERO. IT IS NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT.( despite not scoring goal, he doesn’t show good quality on the field of play) OLUWASEGUN( from Russia), DUROSIMI(from vict.Pizen) are better than him.
@(2). ….. ONUACHU last ten matches played is also ZERO. IT’S NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT ASLO. He has won highest goal scorers golden boot award with different clubs in Europe (he is European club goal scorers DECIEVER)l. BUT IN NIGERIA, HE ALWAYS FLOP,.
THIS IS A PLAYER THAT HAS PLAYED MORE THAN 20 MATCHES FOR SUPER EAGLE UNDER FIVE DIFFERENT COACH WITH JUST ONLY TWO GOALS SCORED. HIS STYLE OF PLAY DOESN’T SUIT SUPER EAGLE TEAM SETTING AS IT WAS COMPLAINED BY FORMER SUPER EAGLE COACH GERNOT ROHR.
GIFT ORBAN, ADAM AKORS is far far better than him.
PLAYERS WITH STRONG CHARACTER, AGGRESSIVENESS, FIGHTING SPIRIT & ABLE TO RUN WITH THE BALL IS THE KEY TO QUALIFY FOR NEXT WORLD CUP
I WANT TO USE THIS MEDIUM TO PRAISE COACH ERIC CHELLE & HIS CREW FOR BASING HIS INVITATION OF PLAYERS ON QUALITY, & POTENTIAL. (NOT BY EGO, SENIORITY, SENTIMENT OR USELESS EXPERIENCE WITHOUT FITNESS).
## THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS LISTED BELOW HAS NOTHING TO OFFER IN SUPER EAGLE TEAM AGAIN, NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE PLAYING PRESENTLY.
** AHMED MUSA( useless experience (captain) player in AFCON2023)
** PUAL ONUACHU (He is a European club goal scorer DECIEVER. His style of play doesn’t suit super eagle team)
**IHEANACHO ( His Ego/ seniority doesn’t count on the field of play)
** SADIQ UMAR (He always been invited base on quota system (not merit). His style of play doesn’t match Super eagle team).
**BONIFACE (Despite not scoring, he doesn’t show quality on the field of play)
**JOSEPH ARIBO ( He is too slow/sluggish
while playing in Africa soil.)
** TAIWO AWONIYI (He is always fortunate to be scoring goals in clubside. He always find it difficult click in Super eagle team)
Thumbs up Sister woman Juliet. No more to add.
Where is Esther Nwachukwu na!
Kai! NFF when is their corruption going to end!!!
who is this olakunle of a guy! Somebody update me please….
And I thought ejuke is having a poor season with Sevilla…why invite him….
hmmmm!! So this Tosin Adarabioyo guy and this Kayode of Brentford really think in their Audacious and deluded minds that When Super Eagles Qualifies for World Cup they will walk into the team.. Lol Dem never Born dem well!!!!…. If A player like Osimhen is sweatng to take his team to World Cup they will just come and reap where they did not sow!!!!! LOooooooL na Lie!!!
Thumbs up Brother man @Ugo. U nailed it. You keep pumping out powerful prose like Pompeii. Heaven bless both of you.
Super eagles no be you and osimhen papa property.. so they will walk in with ease………some of you don’t even know anything about football and you talk like children cos if you do you will know that one of the fundamental principle is football is a team sport…he say osimhen sweat……. Chukwukwueze and others wey dey work tirelessly to dey assist osimhen na idiots dem be abi? Or maybe for world cup osimhen will play defense, midfield and attack….
I repeat again they will walk into the team with ease…you can’t compare EPL or Chelsea and bredford with all those tolotolo guys wey full super eagles…
@MONKEY POST all I can say to you is Just Thank your Lucky stars that Osimhen is a Nigerian and not from one of the other Countries in this Play offs..
Ungrateful Human being you are!!
Normal list, so what the delay all about??? Naija sha!!!!
Why can’t we just do things based on merit in this country! What is Alhassan’s name doing in this list?? We have promising David Moses, high flying Anthony Dennis and Akinsanmiro who will give better competition in the midfield.
It is very obvious that his name was injected by NFF because Chelle only played him once as makeshift right back and did not trust him in midfield but his name is in the list of midfielders. What happens God Forbid that we have injuries to 2 midfield players during the playoff, all of a sudden we are short.
Besides that, I think the list is fair and balanced.
Well said @Golden Goose. U nailed it.
May this weekend not be a sorrowful weekend for us, may all these invited players stay injury free.
May devil not pour sand into our gari, by allowing key important players like osi bobo injure.
I believe ejuke inclusion will help us to soak pressure at the middle well.
Amen o.
Decent list. I’m especially happy with the inclusion of Ejuke, ebe ano player.
You no like am, me I go use am demo 🙂 🙂 🙂
Would have loved to see Gift Orban and Rafiu Durosinmi among the strikers, but alas, we can only have four. With these guys knocking on the door, those fortunate enough to be invited will be on their toes. Produce consistent performances to justify your invitation.
The midfield still looks a bit thin to me. We will still see the Iwobi/Ndidi combo, unless Ndidi is replaced with Onyedika. Would have loved to see one or two more additional bodies in there. This will be a problem when we face opposition with a strong midfield. Recall what happened in the Afcon final against CIV. We lost that match in the midfield.
Akinsanmiro is injured, so his exclusion is justified. But what about other options? Especially thinking of Ogbelu of Esperance. Considering that he played in the same Flying Eagles team as Frederick, and that Fredrick has taken to the Super Eagles like a fish takes to water, the prospect of having Ogbelu in the team seems exciting indeed. Note that Ogbelu was considered the star player of that Flying Eagles squad, even ahead of Frederick.
Some would argue that this is senior football, not under whatever, so the fact that he was the star back then does not carry much weight now. Perhaps that is true. But note that Ogbelu plays in one of the biggest clubs in Tunisia, and is a regular starter. Considering that the bulk of Tunisia’s world cup squad is home based, and they just concluded a flawless world cup qualifying campaign, grabbing a whopping 28 points by banging in 22 goals and conceding none, yes not a single goal conceded, you can begin to appreciate how good Ogbelu must be to command a starting jersey among Tunisia national team players.
Anyway, the list is not bad. Let’s hope the one or two training sessions available before matchday will be enough to see off a determined Gabon and their 36 year old captain, who knows that this is his last chance to feature in a world cup, and will play the match as if his life depends on it.
Good lists, but that olusengun guy is not super eagles material yet and he doesn’t deserve the invitation, chelle have nothing to show as his reason of inviting olusengun, the guy is just a minus in the field in the two games he played. terem mofi, ovie ejiara, Akinsimiro, ola aina and David Moses should replace Alahassan Yusuf, olusengun, awaziem, osayi and saidu in the afcon tournament
To God be the glory, I am happy and satisfied with the list.
Why has it taken the NFF so long to release the list?
Well, my people, I understand your frustration, but one thing I want you all to understand is, Eric Chelle hasn’t had a chance to build his desired team to his taste yet, but I believe if we make it to the World Cup, the gaffer would have time to rebuild the team.
Meaning, keep calm my people, ęlọfọkanbalę. Chelle is cooking something fabulous for Nigeria.
I believe in God we will qualify for the World Cup.
For the NFF Ajewomasan, Nigerians are coming for you all soon. Your days are numbered, that is for sure.
Ire o. God bless Nigeria.
Good list from Chelle..
By the time Aina, Agu, Fisayo, Tella, and Akinsanmiro, return from Injury overhyped and underperforming players will be dropped!.
It will tough for players like Osayi, Bruno, Awaziem, and Yusuf to make the AFCON list.
Sometimes you mix things up. Else you won’t be adding Osayi to your nonsense!!! No only Agu na Ewa!!!
Good list. Though Akinsanmiro is huge loss in that midfield. Unfortunately, he got injured in his last game for his club. I hope the injury is not too serious so he can be part of the AFCON squad.
I’m glad for the return of Ejuke. He brings something different to the team in the attacking third. I think he’s a bit better than Simon.
Also good to see Maduka back in the team.
Operation Gabon must fall. Good luck to the SuperEagles in these crucial times.
Iyanu Ti N’Chelle.
Ejuke a bit better than Simon must be the joke of the year.. Simon has the record of the most assist in the Super Eagles. This WC qualifier alone, at least half of our goals came through his assist..
I think he can provide the much needed spark and creativity in midfield. May be he is better than Iwobi who failed to score or assist in any of the matches in WCQ.
You’re the joker my friend. Against low block Simon Moses struggles. That’s where Ejuke is a bit better than him. He plays in LaLiga mind you. Simon flopped in LaLiga.
The only he has over Ejuke in these team is experience and because he’s been with the team longer than Ejuke.
In terms of pure football ability and talent Ejuke is a bit better than him in this current set up. If he stays fit he will displace Simon in that left channel mark it. I don’t just talk about random players.
Anyway Iyanu Ti N’Chelle.
@Larry you are those Nigerians who burdened us With Musa for years even though he passed his Prime Years ago!!!!.. Look bro I keep telling you people Change is constant Moses Simon has passed his prime and even so his Prime was not outstanding he is an okay baller but nothing special he has flashes of briliance but is not consistant, Moses Simon is one of those players that is 50/50 in tight games and more often than not delivers a poor cross when we need a quality Cross. It is time to start relieving him of the starting wing spot. Nigeria would be much Stronger is the fans and Ex Internationals understand this fact!!!!.. Better to build Ejuke’s Experience now or even Tella (I suspect Tella Does not want to play for SE again after the Finidi era Trauma) than rely on Moses Simon for Ever If he is our Starting Winger in the WC then it will say alot about SE’s Chances if and when we make it to the Mundial!…….
Never. Simon is far better than Ejuke. Ejuke should respect his elders.
I feel Chrisantus Uche should have been a much better option than Alhassan Yusuf for the midfield. I hope we don’t regret his omission from the playoff team.
You all complaining like the Hassan is even going to play, bar for injury I’m 95% certain he won’t play. What has uche been doing since he moved to CP?
Alhassan is occupying the northern slot. Know that and know peace.
Never. Alhassan Yusuf is far better than Fisayo Dele Bashiru. Know that and know love . Xxx