The Nigeria national team announced its eagerly anticipated final 23-man squad for crunch time 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Rwanda and Zimbabwe later this month.
Star players and veteran leaders such as Victor Osimhen, CAF Player of the Year Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Moses Simon and William Troost-Ekong are included in the final list of recently hired head coach Éric Chelle.
The Malian has a massive task ahead of him in his first matches in charge with Nigeria needing six points from their two matches. The Super Eagles travel to the Rwandan capital of Kigali to face Amavubi on March 21 before returning home to host Zimbabwe in Uyo. Nigeria are currently in 5th place in Group C with the campaign set to push past the halfway mark.
2026 World Cup Qualifying: Group C Table (4 matches played)
Points | |
Rwanda | 7 |
South Africa | 7 |
Benin | 7 |
Lesotho | 5 |
Nigeria | 3 |
Zimbabwe | 2 |
The group winner qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Four of the nine group runners-up qualify for a playoff to determine Africa's representative at the intercontinental qualifying playoff.
Players in form for their clubs include Nottingham Forest fullback Ola Aina and Fulham FC defender Calvin Bassey who are both expected to play major roles alongside key players Osimhen and Iwobi. Chelle's major challenge is to form a talented Super Eagles team into a cohesive unit under his watch with a lack of consistency continuing to plague Nigeria from matching expectations.
A victory against Rwanda in the first match will be the major target to turn Nigeria's faltering World Cup qualifying campaign around. While the group is closely contested meaning that top spot is surely in reach, time is running out for the Super Eagles to jump back into contention for top spot and a guaranteed place at the 2026 finals hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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