Super Eagles’ final squad  to be unveiled Thursday

NFF confirms Cairo for pre-AFCON friendly  

By Tosin Osinowo

The Super  Eagles’ final squad  for the 35^th Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco will not be unveiled  until the Confederation of African Football (CAF)  deadline of   Thursday, December 11, even as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed yesterday that  the  postponed national team’s  pre-AFCON friendly match against Egypt will hold in Cairo on December 16.

Sources close coach Eric Sekou  Chelle  told our correspondent  last night  the  final 25-man  squad for  the AFCON  would  not be released until  Thursday as the Franco-Malian  trainer finalizes  the eagerly awaited list.

“ The final squad for the AFCON  will be out on Thursday, December 11,” the source told NationSport.

In a related development, the  NFF  has given the raison d’être for the postponement of the pre-AFCON friendly between Nigeria and Egypt.

According to the NFF, the decision by world football-governing body, FIFA, that Clubs can hold on to their players until Monday, 15 December 2025 before they are released for the 35^th  Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco  necessitated the shift in plans.

“Seven-time winners Egypt and three-time winners Nigeria were scheduled to clash in a tune-up game in Cairo on Sunday, 14 December, in line with an earlier regulation that ruled that players be released earlier. The game has now been moved to Tuesday, 16 December as a result of the regulation,” the NFF said. “Aside from the postponement, the game will now be a practice match in order to allow the two teams to make use of more than five substitutes in the encounter, which will kick off at 8pm Egypt time (7pm Nigeria time) at the Cairo Stadium.”

The Super Eagles are in Group C of the 35^th  Africa Cup of Nations finals alongside 2004 champions Tunisia, 1978 runners-up Uganda, and Tanzania.

Nigeria’s first match is on Tuesday, 23 December against Tanzania’s Taifa Stars at the Complexe Sportif de Fes, where they will also tackle Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles (Saturday, 27 December) and the Cranes of Uganda (Tuesday, 30 December).

The Pharaohs, who hosted the finals in 2019, are in Group B alongside 1996 hosts and winners South Africa, 2010 hosts Angola, and Zimbabwe. Their matches will be at the Stade d’Agadir.