FRI DEC 12 2025-theGBJournal| Super Eagles Head Coach Eric Chelle has named a 28-man squad for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON 2025) in Morocco, opting for five uncapped players.
The squad sees the exclusion of some known players such as Victor Boniface and Maduka Okoye and Tolu Arokodare who scored some memorable goals in the build up to Nigeria’s failed World Cup bid.
The squad list has faced backlash among Nigerian fans who describes it as anecdote for failure, but it has not dampened expectations after the disappointment of World Cup collapse.
Chelle’s selection however, keeps faith with core of the players who featured in the World Cup qualifiers, including Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, with the striking department remaining unchanged.
Francis Uzoho and Amas Obasogie are expected to play reserve role in the goalkeeping department.
Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze and Moses Simon form a settled striking department with options in Cyril Dessers, Paul Onuachi, Chidera Ejuke and new comer Salim Fago.
In the Midfield, Chelle has opted for stability with holding midfielder Wilfred Nidi, Alex Iwobi, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru Onyedika and Raphael Onyodika.
Tochukukwu Nnadi and Muhammed Usman are names not quite known to the Super Eagles fan selected for the midfield role.
Defensively, the line up is largely intact as the Coach opted for stability in Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Bruno Onyemaechi, Chidozie Awaziem, Ryan Alebiosu and Bright Osayi-Samuel.
However, Nigerians are questioning the exclusion of Super Eagles Captain William Troost Ekong and the inclusion of untested player like Igoh Ogbu.
Nigeria, runners up in a 2-1 loss to hosts Cote d’Ivoire in the last tournament (AfCON 2023), is drawn in Group C to face Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania from Tuesday 23 December, 2025.
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