Osimhen Is Out Of The AFCON Qualifiers, And Awoniyi Is Back In

Sports

Abuja · Tuesday 22 September 2026

Victor Osimhen will miss Nigeria's opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau with a groin injury. Taiwo Awoniyi, now at Coventry City, has been called into Eric Chelle's squad to replace him. Osimhen was also absent from Galatasaray's 4-0 defeat at Trabzonspor.

Nigeria play Madagascar on Friday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, then travel to Guinea-Bissau on 29 September.

football training pitch national team Photograph by Leo_Visions via Unsplash.

The injury was already known, and the squad was named anyway

Osimhen was included in the original list on the assumption he would recover during the international break. He did not. That is a normal piece of squad management and it is also why the replacement arrives late, with less preparation time than anybody would choose.

Why Group L matters more than it sounds. These are the first two fixtures of the campaign, one at home and one away, against opponents Nigeria is expected to beat. Expected results are where qualification is quietly lost: drop points in September and the last matchday becomes a crisis, which is exactly the pattern of the last two cycles.

What Awoniyi actually brings

Osimhen	Awoniyi
Runs behind, wins everything in the air	Also a penalty-box striker, different tempo
Defenders plan around him specifically	Less feared, harder to prepare for
Carries the goal burden alone	Needs the service to arrive

A nine-million-pound summer move to Coventry bought him minutes, which is the point.

Awoniyi went to Coventry precisely because he was not playing at Nottingham Forest. Whatever the level of the league, a striker arriving in camp having played recently is worth more to a manager than one who has been watching.

Nigeria has spent two years discovering that its attacking depth is one injury deep. This is that discovery happening again, on schedule.

What Chelle has left

Tolu Arokodare is in the 24-man squad on the back of strong club form and has said he is ready. Kelechi Iheanacho is scoring in Turkey at a rate nobody expected. Neither is Osimhen, and neither has to be for two qualifiers against sides ranked below Nigeria. The test is not whether the replacement is as good. It is whether the team is built to function when he is not there.

Reporting: Vanguard, Premium Times, Channels Television and Legit.ng.

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