AFCON: Victor Osimhen Returns As Eguavoen Invites 23 Players For Benin, Rwanda Clash

Augustine Eguavoen, the interim coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles has invited 23 players for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Among the players listed for the games is Galatasaray’s star striker, Victor Osimhen, who was absent in the last game against Libya due to injury.

He returned from injury and scored a goal in Galatasaray’s 3-0 win away at Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig on October 19.

Osimhen also bagged the winning goal in Galatasaray’s derby match on October 28 against Besiktas.

Also returning to the Super Eagles team after a while out is Real Sociedad’s Umar Sadiq.

The games against Benin and Rwanda will mark the last rounds of qualifiers for the AFCON in Morocco next year.

Match-day 5 clash with Benin Republic at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny on Nov. 14 will kick off at 8 p.m. Nigeria time, while the matchday 6 encounter with Rwanda will take place at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Nov. 18.

With two matches remaining, Nigeria tops the Group D of the qualifiers with 10 points after CAF awarded Nigeria 3 goals and three points for the abandoned match against Lybia.

The Eagles refused to play the game after being stuck in a remote Libyan airport for half a day before the match.

The players and officials were stranded for hours at a Libyan airport and denied access to food and the internet as they prepared to honour their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier with the Mediterranean Knights.

It took diplomatic efforts and social media callouts for the team to be cleared to finally leave Libya.