Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has unveiled his final 28-man squad for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco (AFCON 2025), as Nigeria gears up for the tournament set to kick off on December 21.
The final list saw a mix of unexpected inclusions and some surprising omissions, raising eyebrows among supporters. From the provisional 54-man list, a total of 26 players did not make the cut.
See the full Super Eagles AFCON squad HERE.
In this analysis, Bold Sports looks into the players who were left out of the final squad.
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In goal, Maduka Okoye was surprisingly left out despite returning from a betting-related ban in October and putting in impressive performances for Udinese since then. The 26-year-old has kept two clean sheets in eight games and was expected to step up with Nwabali’s fitness still uncertain due to hand and ankle injuries.
Volos FC shot-stopper Adebayo Adeleye and Sporting Lagos youngster Ebenezer Harcourt were the other two goalkeepers left out of the final squad.
In defense, William Troost-Ekong was not named in the final squad due to his international retirement announced last week. Ola Aina was also excluded because of the hamstring injury he sustained in September.
Despite hints from Victor Boniface that Felix Agu would feature in the tournament, the Werder Bremen fullback missed out on the final squad as he continues to recover from an ankle injury. Abia Warriors’ Adekunle Adeleke was also left out of the 28-man list.
In midfield, New England Revolution’s Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi, who was at the previous AFCON, was omitted from the final list. Chrisantus Uche, who has struggled for consistent game time at Crystal Palace, also missed out.
Gençlerbirliği’s Tom Dele-Bashiru failed to make the cut, as did 22-year-old Peter Agba who plays for Maccabi Haifa.
Several forwards who were initially invited failed to make the final squad. Tolu Arokodare, who has scored just twice for his new club Wolverhampton Wanderers, was left out, while Victor Boniface, yet to find the net for Werder Bremen, also missed out.
Olakunle Olusegun, who was in the squad for the CAF World Cup playoffs; Sadiq Umar, who recently scored for Real Sociedad but has generally struggled for consistent minutes this season; and Celtic’s Kelechi Iheanacho, who has scored three goals this season, were all omitted from the final squad.
Terem Moffi, who was recently attacked by OGC Nice fans, is currently on sick leave and misses out on the squad. Nathan Tella was also omitted, while Rafiu Durosinmi, despite scoring 12 goals this season, was left out. Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi and Basel’s Phillip Otele also failed to make the final list.
NPFL trio Abdulrasheed Shehu, Ekeson Okorie, and Chisom Orji are all part of the absentees, while Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi and Emmanuel Michael complete the list of players who were not selected as part of the final squad.
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