The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says it has accepted an invitation to be a part of a four team friendly tournament in England at the end of the ongoing European season, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Multiple reports in Ghana quoting the chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee Dr. Randy Abbey ran with the story, and he was quoted as saying there is no specific date fixed for the tournament yet, but it will definitely be in the month of June.

“Fortunately, the technical team and management will have the opportunity to further work on the team because, in June, we don’t have qualifiers. So, we’re playing a four-nation friendly in England. And I’m sure it will be an opportunity for the coaches to do some further work on the team,” he told 3Sports.

“We’re hoping that some of the players who are injured will also be back and will have the opportunity to play at least two games before September,” he added

Whe sought to hear from a member of the NFF who was in the same flight with a member of our editorial team from Uyo to Abuja after covering the Super Eagles 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe. ” Yes, we will play a four team tournament in England at the end of the season. There will be an official announcement when all arrangements are made”, he concluded.

Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria William Troost-Ekong tendered an apology to his teammates for his error that led to the goal that helped Zimbabwe secure a 1-1 draw at the death in Uyo yesterday in the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ekong was beaten too easily leaving goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali with no chance as Zimbabwe steal a point in Uyo. A result that further compounded the chances of Nigeria making it to the 2026 World Cup.

After the game, the players spent almost two hours in the dressing room in a meeting with head coach Eric Chelle, and players were asked to give their opinion on why the team failed to see out the game.

Per a backroom staff Ekong admitted to the error and tendered an apology, but Chelle insisted that they are not going to blame an individual for the result, due to the fact that as a team they take it all together.

They all resolved to put the disappoinment behind them and work towards making the best use of the remaining games , especially with South Africa likely to be docked points for fielding an ineligible player in their 2-0 win over Lesotho.

FIFA will award the game to Lesotho on a 3-0 win and South Africa will have all points and goals from that game wiped off like it happened to Nigeria in 2018, when they fielded an ineligible player in the 1-1 draw against Algeria.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has made public his starting lineup for today’s world cup qualifiers game against Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chelle started his reign as coach with a 2-0 win over Rwanda in Kigali playing in a 4-3-1-2 system, which in practice is majorly called the diamond formation. He however switched to 4-3-3 in the second half of the game.

In today’s game, Stanley Nwabali will continue in goal with a back four of Ola Aina, Bright Osayi-Samuel, William Troost-Ekong and Calvin Bassey in front of him.

Wilfred Ndidi will be the deepest midfielder for the Super Eagles playing just in front of the defence with the trio of Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman and Samuel Chukwueze in front of him.

Moses Simon will continue in his role behind the main striker Victor Osimhen just like it was in the game on Friday, where Osimhen scored a brace.

Starting Lineup; Nwabali, Osayi-Samuel, Aina, Ekong, Bassey, Ndidi, Iwobi, Chukwueze, Lookman, Simon, Osimhen.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has started moves on establishing a case against South Africa for fielding an ineligible player in Theboho Mokoena in their 2-0 win over Lesotho during the last round of games in the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Mokoena was supposed to be suspended for the game on Friday after picking up two yellow cards in previous games. In match day 1, he was yellow carded against Benin Republic in the 54th minute, and picked up another booking in the 52nd minute in the matchday 4 game against Zimbabwe.

Per the 2026 world Cup preliminary rule book disciplinary page he was supposed to be suspended for accumulated bookings, but played for 81 minutes. A move that could likely cost them three points and three goals.

Fifa’s World Cup Qualifiers Rulebook, specifically sub-section 9, which clearly states that a player who receives two yellow cards in separate matches must serve a one-match suspension.

A board member of the NFF says they are aware of the situation, and have already started their internal works to explore the situation, which will see the group leaders lose three points and drop to seven points if found guilty.

Nigeria suffered the same fate when they fielded Shehu Abdullahi in a game against Algeria in the world cup 2018 qualifiers and were made to lose the one point they gained in the game that ended 1-1, when it was discovered that Shehu should have been suspended for the game.

Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria William Troost-Ekong has played down suggestions that the team is heavily reliant on top striker Victor Osimhen, after his two goals helped them to a 2-0 win over Rwanda in the world cup qualifiers on Friday, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen like Ekong was playing in his first world cup qualifiers after missing the previous four games and his absence, Nigeria failed to win. He made an instant impact with his brace in the 11th minute and three minutes into time added on after the first half stoppage earned them a 2-0 win in Kigali.

His instant impact which helped Nigeria picked their first win was put forward to Ekong during the pre game presser with the suggestions that the team relies on Osimhen to win games.

“When the team plays well together every individual shines even if you talk about the Rwanda game. I think you have to highlight more than Victor Osimhen’s game. I think there is almost every player that you can say play his role. Players who came off the bench and also helped out in the training session including players who played out of position like Yusuf (Alhassan)”, Ekong said.

“There are different factors. So I don’t think it’s right to say we rely on one player because that is not the mentality of the team. We work hard together and we try to make everyone comfortable and when we do that we achieve more as a team”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has revealed the reason behind his decision to call three players from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) to his squad for the world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively.

Chelle named the duo of goalkeeper Kayode Bankole of Remo Stars and Niger Tornadoes midfielder Papa Daniel in his final 23 man list for both games.

The coach who has only been at the job for three months watched a couple of games in the league, before his decision to invite the duo for the crucial games in the world cup qualifiers. None of them played in the 2-0 win against Rwanda in Kigali on Friday.

Speaking at the pre match conference ahead of tomorrow’s game against Zimbabwe, the Malian said his decision to call them up was one he has to take with his eyes on what he thinks the players will likely add to the team in the future.

” My job is to see all the Nigerian players in the world to analyze the player because this is the world cup qualifiers, after that there is the CHAN and also the AFCON afterwards. So we need to work together”, the coach said at the presser.

” I think there are a lot of players who can work together and bring something to our national team. But they need to work and they need to know how I want my team to play. So this is why I pick two players and I think they are good and they are very good for the future. But we need to work now with them. We prepare the future for now and like I said in my first press conference the time is the enemy of the coach”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of Zimbabwe Michael Nees has sounded a note of warning to his players ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup Qualifiers game against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Zimbabwe fought from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home against Benin Republic on Thursday, while Nigeria secured their first win in the qualifiers with a 2-0 win over Rwanda away in Kigali on Friday.

Speaking ahead of the game at the Godswill Akpabio stadium, Nees said his players must try to avoid the slow start that saw them fall two goals behind against Benin Republic against the Super Eagles,because of the quality of the Nigerian team.

He said: “Nigeria is absolute top level. We cannot allow a slow start to the game to happen…

“We must be there from the beginning in our game. Our concentration must be there because the goals (against Benin on Thursday), when you look at it, were a little gifted from us.”

Nees went ahead to rate the chances of his team making it to the 2026 World Cup saying there is still a lot of points to play for, and they won’t give up until the very end.

“Nobody can predict anything. As a sportsperson, you have to fight until the end because everybody wants a fair competition.

“That’s number one. If you don’t do that, you shouldn’t play football. Second, the group is not decided yet. There’s still 15 points to play for and we must take every game seriously.”

Ade Emmanuel

“We’re optimistic. We got a result against Nigeria last time, even though it was technically a home game in Rwanda.

“That was my first game – it was a big test, and the team did well to draw.

“This time, we want to go a step further. We respect Nigeria, but not too much. We’ll try to impose ourselves. We’ve come here to get a result and keep pushing towards our goal.”

The senior national team of Nigeria yesterday had their first training session ahead of Tuesday’s game against Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Yesterday’s session was a tactical session with new coach Eric Chelle perfecting his tactics for the next game after winning his first game in charge 2-0 away to Rwanda in Kigali.

Chelle had the players play a mini game among themselves, while the goalkeepers work separately with their trainer Padovani Jean-Daniel at the other end of the pitch.

Towards the end of the session, they did a drill on build up which finishes by scoring past any of the trio of the three shot stoppers in the team in Stanley Nwabali, Amas Obasogie and Kayode Bankole depending on who is in goal.

Some spectacular goals were scored with Ademola Lookman the reigning Africa player of the year stealing the show with an effort that drew applause from everyone present at the session.

Niger Tornadoes midfielder Papa Daniel also weigh in with a spectacular effort of his own , the same as Valencia forward Sadiq Umar who buried a fine header before rifling a thunderous effort from range.

The sharpness of the players will no doubt leave Chelle satisfied as they go in search of their second win on Tuesday against Zimbabwe to further brighten their chances of making it to the world cup next year.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria yesterday had their first training session ahead of Tuesday’s game against Zimbabwe in the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Fresh from picking up their first win in the qualifiers with a 2-0 win away to Rwanda in Kigali, the Eric Chelle led them were back training at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, the venue of their fifth game in the road to be at the 2026 World Cup.

Although the session was held behind close doors, we were able to catch a glimpse of how the players lined up against each other in a mini game meant to shake off the stress of the trip to Kigali, and step up their fitness for the game on Tuesday.

Chelle had majority of the players who started the game in the same team bar Bright Osayi-Samuel who was subbed off for Alhassan Yusuf late into the game on Friday. Bruno Onyemaechi took his spot in the team that were on training bibs.

It was a mini game among the outfield players, while the goalkeepers were put through their paces by the new goalkeeper trainer Padovani Jean-Daniel at the other end of the pitch .

Team A

Ola Aina

Bruno Onyemaechi

Calvin Bassey

William Troost-Ekong

Wilfred Ndidi

Alex Iwobi

Samuel Chukwueze

Moses Simon

Victor Osimhen

Ademola Lookman

Team B

Igho Ogbu

Bright Osayi-Samuel

Alhassan Yusuf

Papa Daniel

Joe Aribo

Victor Boniface

Tolu Arokodare

Sadiq Umar

Jordan Torunarigha

Raphael Onyedika

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman