Members of the Nigeria Football Federation have arrived in Cote d’Ivoire for the draws for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which will take place later today, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The Nigerian contingent were led by the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau. They will witness the draws which will see Nigeria go in as one of the seeded teams.

It means they will avoid playing any of the top 8 teams in Africa according to the latest FIFA rankings and they are Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. Traditional teams like Ghana, South Africa, Congo Dr, Ghana, Guinea, Zambia and Gabon all missed out by virtue of their spot in the latest rankings.

Nigeria will go into the draws with doubts surrounding who will lead the team to the next Africa Cup of Nations as well as when the qualifiers starts, with the NFF yet to name a replacement for Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro following the expiration of his deal.

Peseiro’s one year deal expired last month and despite reports suggesting that he will be offered fresh terms, nothing has been advanced in that regards and all talks about replacing the coach still hasn’t seen the light of the day.

His spot in the entourage for the draws was given to a board member of the NFF due to the impasse over his role as coach of the team. The board member will stand in as coach of the Super Eagles if there is a need during the course of the event.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Italian Serie A giants Inter Milan won’t be sending Nigerian prospect Ebenezer Akinsanmiro on loan next season, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Akinsanmiro joined the team in January from  the nursery team of Nigeria Professional Football League side Remo Stars called Beyond Limit FA. He wasted no time in settling down with the youth team.

After a string of fine performances he was elevated to the first team and made the bench for the Coppa Italia win and also was in the squad that prepared for the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City. He wasn’t named on the bench as he wasn’t registered.

The idea mooted by many is that he will be sent out on loan but that isn’t the case with the Serie A side effectively ruling out a temporary move. Already they have created a pathway for him to be a part of the first team squad for next season.

Head coach Simone Inzaghi believes having him close will further aid his development instead of sending him out on loan . He is expected to get regular run of games for the youth team in the UEFA Youth League and the Primavera League but will spend most of his week with the first team.

Signed to Inter Milan till the summer of 2026, the club sees him as one who will require little time to force his way into the first team judging by how quick he settled down to life with the youth team following his move.

Osas Mahawi

Saudi Arabia side Al Nassr have been banned by FIFA over details of the transfer of the captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa in 2018 from English Premier League side Leicester City, Owngoalnigeria.com reports.

FIFA stopped the club of Cristiano Ronaldo from registering any new player over their failure to pay the add-ons included in the £16m deal that saw Musa join them in 2018 after an exhilarating performance at the World Cup for Nigeria.

The deal had provisions for several future payments to Leicester City based on some clause in the deal, most of which was performance related, and for the two years he was at the club he met the mark for further payment to the relegated English Premier League side.

Musa triggered £390,000 but Al Nassr declined to make the payment despite a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) mandating them to pay. The timeline for the payment elapsed and further sanctions top of which is the inability to register new players was slammed on them.

However, the case will likely be resolved in the coming days with several sources reporting that the Saudi Arabia side has already said they will pay the fee. The issue was before the government decided to invest some of the Public Investment Fund ( PIF) into top teams in the country including Al Nassr.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Former Nigeria U20 forward Chukwubuikem Ikwuemessi has agreed a deal to join newly promoted French Ligue 1 side Le Havre from Slovenian side NK Celje, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

A deal was agreed with Latvian side Riga for the 21 year old with all details including personal terms sorted out but just before a routine medical, which is usually the last step before an official announcement he made a u-turn.

He opted against the move when he was informed of the interest of newly promoted Le Havre, who were champions of the second division in France. A deal is said to be near completion.

A transfer fee of €1.5m, which will be paid in three installments with a ten percent sell on clause has been agreed between the teams involved in the deal. Agreement on personal terms is also close.

Operating as a centre forward for the majority of last season, the 2021 Nigeria U20 forward scored nine goals with five assists for Celje, but beyond the goals, his all round play was something that really made his stood out

It hasn’t been all rosy for the forward, as he built his way up to the top from Swiss side SK Vorwarts Steyr before spending time with NK Krsko of Slovenia last season, from where he moved to his present team Celje.

Daniel Martins

Former Nigeria U17 star Akinwunmi Amoo has resumed training with Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia ahead of a possible loan move to the team that finished 6th last season from FC Copenhagen, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.

Signed for big money last summer, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury which kept him out for the entirety of last season. He has now fully recovered and will be sent on loan to where he can get regular game time to boost his fitness and form.

FC Copenhagen’s communications manager, Jes Mortensen, confirms to Tipsbladet that Amoo is currently training on trial with the Cypriot club Omonia Nicosia, who are currently on a training camp in Poland.

The idea of his loan move was facilitated by Jesper Jansson, who is now the sporting director of the Cyprus outfit and gave Amoo his first professional contract, while occupying the same role at Swedish side Hammarby.

A decision on the 21 year old is expected to be made in two weeks time but all parties involved are hopeful of reaching an agreement for a season long loan deal. His contract with FC Copenhagen runs till the summer of 2026.

Daniel Martins.

The senior national team of Nigeria will likely be up against Ghana in the race to be at the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in Canada, Mexico and the USA, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles failed to make it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar losing on a 1-1 aggregate to Ghana in the play off. Ahead of tomorrow’s draw for the qualifiers for the 2026 edition, there is a possibility of facing the same team in the new format of the qualifiers following an increase in the slot available to Africa.

54 African countries will be divided into nine groups of six teams. All eventual group leaders will secure places at the World Cup.

The best four runners-up will then go into play-offs and the winners join  five other teams in an inter-confederation tournament with two World Cup places up for grabs.

Seedings for the draws which will take place in the Ivorian city of Abidjan will be done using the latest FIFA rankings for the month of June. The nine best teams in Africa will be seeded and it includes Nigeria.

Others seeded teams are Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. Traditional teams like Ghana, South Africa, Congo Dr, Ghana, Guinea, Zambia and Gabon all missed out by virtue of their spot in the latest rankings.

It means they could be drawn in the group against the seeded teams raising the possibility of a Nigeria vs Ghana battle for a world cup slot again. A clash that will no doubt provoke memories in the minds of the players and fans of the Nigerian team owing to the disappointment of last time out.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

President of Napoli Aurelio De Laurentiis has suggested that the team is open to letting Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen leave the club in the summer transfer window, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

He however said the striker who powered them to their first Serie A title in 33 years with 26 league goals is free to leave only if a team brings an amount of money that his side can’t afford to refuse.

The president went further to say he believe that only Ligue 1 giants PSG can afford to pay the kind of money that will make them sanction the exit of Osimhen.  “The only club that could afford Victor Osimhen is Paris Saint-Germain”, he told Mediaset.

De Laurentiis went ahead to name the likey amount:“If Nasser Al Khelaifi wants to send in a bid around €200m… we wait and we see what happens. I personally think that Victor will stay here”, he rounded up saying.

Daniel Martins

The international future of two players of the senior national team of Nigeria will be in doubt if head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro gets a contract extension as coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Peseiro is currently out of contract as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria but from all indications he will be given a renewal after leading the team to qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire next year.

His new deal from what we gathered will carry a mandate for him to reach at least the semi final of the Africa Cup of Nations for it to be extended to a two years deal. A short term deal that covers the period leading to the tournament and immediately after it is being considered by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The expectation that will come with his new deal will likely make him more ruthless in making decisions on the inclusion of some players in the team, particularly those that have failed to live up to expectations during the course of his first one year as coach of the team.

Camp sources say he hasn’t been entirely impressed with the performance of the duo of  Ademola Lookman and Kevin Akpoguma, two players who switched nationality to Nigeria after playing for England and Germany respectively at different youth levels.

His worry about Lookman is about where he fits into the team considering that they don’t play in the same way that has made him a feared force in the Italian Serie A with Atalanta. For Ekong it’s more of the same particularly the fact that he didn’t impress at all when he played as a right back against Sierra Leone in the 3-2 win that sealed their spot at the AFCON.

He is expected to make a decision on their future in the team once his contract extension is  confirmed. The aim is to instantly start the process of delivering on the mandate of at least reaching the AFCON semi finals of the AFCON.

Osas Mahawi

The search for regular run of games has made Michael Folorunsho to give his approval to a permanent move to Hellas Verona from Napoli after his return from a loan spell in Serie B side Bari.

The 25 year old who has been on the books of Napoli for three seasons was very key to the fine run of form Bari had last season that saw them narrowly miss out on promotion to the top division. He is back at Napoli for pre season training and also discussion about his future.

Hellas Verona were among the team who noticed his performances last season for Bari, where he had 9 goals and four assists in 32 games in all competitions operating primarily from the midfield.

He has already accepted their proposal among all teams that wanted him and it’s now up to them to reach an agreement with Napoli, who are open to letting him leave as he doesn’t fit into their plans next season.

There is no report of what Napoli will be demanding as transfer fee but market experts projects that it could be a deal that involves co-owner ownership and not necessarily a straight cash deal between the teams.

Eligible for Nigeria and Italy but yet to be capped by any of the above mentioned countries. He openly said he is opened to representing Nigeria after injury stopped him from honoring his first call up to the Italian senior national team for a camping exercise.

Daniel Martins

Dutch league giants Ajax have joined the host of clubs reportedly keeping a close watch on 23 year old Nigerian forward Jerome Adams Akor who plays for Norwegian side Lillestrom, OwnGoalNigeria.comunderstands.

23 year old Akor who has been linked with teams like Werder Bremen, AZ Alkmaar, Besiktas and OGC Nice is expected to be on the move before the end of the summer transfer window.

He shot himself into the sight of the aforementioned teams with his tally of 14 goals in 14 games in all competitions. It includes twelve in twelve league games and two in two cup games this term.

According to iTromso, Ajax Who are in the market for a forward have made checks on his availability and sent scouts to keep an eye on him. His team reportedly wants €4m as his transfer fee, an amount that won’t pose any problem to the Dutch side.

Represented by Atta Aneke, he was a member of the 2019 Nigeria U20 team led by Paul Aigbogun to the U20 World Cup and he scored once as the team exited the tournament in the first knock out round.

Daniel Martins