{"id":5934,"date":"2025-11-09T05:25:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T04:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pillartoday.ng\/?p=5934"},"modified":"2025-11-09T05:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T04:25:02","slug":"world-cup-playoffs-ekong-osimhen-moses-21-others-for-big-battles-in-rabat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"pillartoday.com.ng\/?p=5934","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Playoffs: Ekong, Osimhen, Moses, 21 Others For Big Battles In Rabat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Battle -ready Super Eagles pose before a game.<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">By <strong>Dianabasi Effiong<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">Captain William Troost-Ekong, ace forward Victor Osimhen, goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, and defenders Bright Osayi-Samuel and Calvin Bassey are in Nigeria\u2019s 24-man list for next week\u2019s 2026 FIFA World Cup African Play-off Tournament in Rabat, Morocco.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nSuper Eagles\u2019 Head Coach Eric Chelle has also included 89-cap midfielder Alex Iwobi, exciting young defender Benjamin Fredericks, midfielders Frank Onyeka and Wilfred Ndidi, and forwards Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nNigeria are up against Gabon in the first semi-final scheduled for the 22,000\u2013capacity Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat, while Cameroon confront the Democratic Republic of Congo in the other semi-final at the 18,000 \u2013 capacity El-Barid Stadium, also in Rabat.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nChelle has recalled goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and Spain-based forward Chidera Ejuke, with midfielder Raphael Onyedika and forwards Tolu Arokodare, Jerome Akor Adams and Olusegun Olakunle also on the roster.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nDefender Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, suspended for one game after accumulating two yellow cards in the 10-match qualifying campaign, will miss the clash with the Panthers on Thursday.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nThe players are scheduled to fly into Morocco from their different bases in Europe and elsewhere, to converge in Rabat on Nov. 10.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\n24 SUPER EAGLES FOR 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP AFRICA PLAY-OFF TOURNAMENT<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nGoalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); and Maduka Okoya (Udinese FC, Italy).<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nDefenders: William Troost-Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Benjamin Fredericks (Dender FC, Belgium).<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nMidfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); and Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium).<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" data-removefontsize=\"true\" data-originalcomputedfontsize=\"16\">\nForwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain); and Olakunle Olusegun (Pari Nizhny Novgorod, Russia).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Battle -ready Super Eagles pose before a game. By Dianabasi Effiong Captain William Troost-Ekong, ace forward Victor Osimhen, goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, and defenders Bright Osayi-Samuel and Calvin Bassey are in Nigeria\u2019s 24-man list for next week\u2019s 2026 FIFA World Cup African Play-off Tournament in Rabat, Morocco. Super Eagles\u2019 Head Coach Eric Chelle has also included [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}