Sports
WCQ: Chelle makes late squad adjustment as injuries hit Squad
Nigeria’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches have been disrupted by a series of injuries, prompting head coach Eric Chelle to revise his squad ahead of this month’s fixtures against Lesotho and the Benin Republic.
The Super Eagles, already missing key players such as Ola Aina, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, and Raphael Onyedika due to club-level injuries, confirmed that Cyriel Dessers and Bright Osayi-Samuel have also been ruled out.
Osayi-Samuel, who recently signed for Birmingham City, has been nursing a knock that kept him out of his club’s recent match against Wrexham. Dessers’ absence further reduces Nigeria’s attacking options, leaving Chelle with limited forward choices.
In response to the growing list of absentees, Chelle has called up Porto defender Zaidu Sanusi and Crystal Palace midfielder Christantus Uche as replacements. Both players are expected to join the team’s training camp ahead of the qualifiers.
Sanusi, who played a key role in Nigeria’s run to the Africa Cup of Nations final, returns to the national team after recovering from a long-term injury that kept him out of action for over a year. His inclusion is seen as a boost to the team’s defensive structure.
Uche, one of the emerging players in the current generation of Nigerian internationals, made his senior debut for the Super Eagles in June. His invitation offers him another opportunity to establish himself within the national setup.
Meanwhile, there are fresh concerns over Werder Bremen full-back Felix Agu, who sustained an injury in a Bundesliga match against St. Pauli. His fitness will be assessed before Nigeria’s opening qualifier.
Coach Chelle’s revised 23-man squad now blends experienced internationals with younger players as Nigeria seek to secure maximum points from the two matches.
The team will first face Lesotho before travelling to Cotonou for the encounter against Benin Republic.
The back-to-back fixtures are crucial for Nigeria’s qualification hopes, with the Super Eagles currently needing victories to stay competitive in their group for a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.