Super Eagles star Samuel Chukwueze arrives Uyo for South Africa game

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The Super Eagles camp has officially opened ahead of Nigeria’s crucial back-to-back qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup next week. The ATHLETICNG reports.

Nigeria will host the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winners, South Africa, at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday, June 7. Three days later, the Super Eagles will battle Benin Republic at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Head coach Finidi George has invited 23 players for the two games as he looks to get Nigeria’s campaign back on track. Nine of those players have already arrived at the team’s camp in Uyo, including Leicester City duo Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi.

Two of the three NPFL-based players, Sodiq Ismail and Kenneth Igboke, have also checked into camp. Ismail was preferred to Ola Aina in the Super Eagles right-back role, while Igboke was called in as a late replacement for injured Napoli star Victor Osimhen.

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Chippa United goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, Tanzania-based defender Benjamin Tanimu, and Hatayspor midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru were among the first to join the team’s hotel. Rizespor star Ibrahim Olawoyin, who earned his first Super Eagles call-up since 2021 following the withdrawal of Bayer Leverkusen’s Nathan Tella, has also arrived.

The latest player to arrive at the Super Eagles camp is AC Milan winger Samuel Chukwueze. Despite injury concerns that kept him out of AC Milan’s last two league matches of the season and their recent Australian tour, Chukwueze appears fit and ready to add his quality to the team.

Nigeria currently has two points in the qualification campaign, one behind South Africa and two behind Rwanda, ahead of their matchday three encounter against the Bafana Bafana.