Nigeria coach Eric Chelle has named a 24-man Super Eagles squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Tanzania, and Victor Osimhen is not in it. It is the second qualifying window running that the Galatasaray striker has missed, and it follows knee surgery.
Legit.ng reports that Osimhen was hurt when he slipped on the turf at Rams Park during Galatasaray's 2-1 UEFA Champions League win over Stuttgart. The Turkish club later confirmed a successful arthroscopic operation on the affected knee to remove a floating bone fragment. ESPN gives the surgery date as November 7. Galatasaray have not put a timeline on his return, but ESPN reports he is expected to be out for a couple of weeks.
The gap his absence leaves shows in the numbers. According to FotMob, he has 35 goals in 45 Super Eagles matches, while ESPN counts 51 matches in which he played, and Legit.ng places him second on Nigeria's all-time scoring chart, two goals behind the late Rashidi Yekini. ESPN's figures, counting through to September's AFCON qualifiers, show Nigeria won 29 of the 51 matches he played in, against 25 wins in 62 games without him. Their win percentage drops from 56.9% with him to 40.3% without, and their goals per game fall from 1.84 to 1.27.
Chelle has turned to Akor Adams, Tolu Arokodare and Taiwo Awoniyi to share the attacking load, and all three were also in the September squad when Osimhen was unavailable. Transfermarkt has Adams on 18 caps since his debut in September 2025. Arokodare netted the decisive goal in a 1-0 qualifier win over Rwanda in Uyo. Awoniyi has scored twice in 12 appearances for Nigeria.
Goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and Kelechi Iheanacho are both left out. ESPN notes that Iheanacho is Nigeria's next highest international goalscorer with 15 goals, and that he has 17 goals and three assists in 14 games in the Turkish second tier. No official reason has been given for Okoye's exclusion. Francis Uzoho is recalled in his place, and captain Wilfred Ndidi leads the team.
The squad is among Chelle's youngest. It averages 26.8 years, the second youngest competitive squad Chelle has named, and seven of its players are under 25, including 19-year-old Mubarak Suleiman.
Separately, a radio claim links Osimhen with a January move to Juventus. Nicola Penta, a sports consultant and lawyer with close links to Juventus leadership, made the claim on TMW Radio, as relayed by PM Parrot and reported by Legit.ng on 6 November. Penta named Osimhen as the best fit for a centre-forward and suggested Juventus could pay €30m to €40m upfront, with the rest in instalments. SoccerNet describes it as one consultant's view, not a club statement.
Nigeria are in second place in Group L, and the group yields just one qualifying spot. The Super Eagles host Tanzania at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday, November 13, before flying out for the return at Zanzibar's Amman Stadium on Tuesday, November 17.
No comments yet