Finidi Releases 23-Man World Cup Qualifier Squad

Breakdown of the Nigerian National Team Squad for the Qualifiers:

There are no major surprises, as Finidi had mentioned during his media tour that the list would include most of the players from the last Africa Cup of Nations with only a few new faces.

Invited Players:

Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United), Maduka Okoye (Udinese), Ojo Olorunleke (Enyimba).

Defenders: Chidozie Awaziem (Boavista), Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce), Sadiq Ismael(Remo Stars), Oluwasemilogo Ajayi(West Brom), Calvin Bassey(Fulham), Benjamin Tanimu(Ihefu FC)

Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester), Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge) Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (Royal Antwerp), Frank Onyeka (Brentford), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Hatayspor).

Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta), Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen), Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester), Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan), Paul Onuachu (Trabzonspor), Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen), Terem Moffi(OGC Nice).

New Call-Ups

Sadiq Ismael is included in the squad for the first time.

While former first-choice goalkeeper Maduka Okoye returns to the team for the first time since October 2023. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru who was left out of the 2023 AFCON squad was also named by Finidi.

Okoye has had an impressive season with Udinese.

Key Players Left Out

Zaidu Sanusi will miss the matches due to injury, Ahmed Musa, Francis Uzoho, Kenneth Omeruo and Umar Sadiq also did not make the list.

A couple of players will also miss out due to injury, and they include Ola Aina, Troost Ekong, and Moses Simon.