Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle has handed first senior invitations to 11 players in his 24-man squad for Nigeria’s international friendly against Russia, Bold Sports reports.
Captain Wilfred Ndidi, Moses Simon, Stanley Nwabali, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Raphael Onyedika are among the established players selected for the match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Tuesday, October 6.
Chelle made 15 changes to the squad chosen for Nigeria’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, with only nine players retained.
Goalkeeper Samuel James, defender Victory Akpe, six midfielders and three forwards are set to join the senior national team for the first time.
More Read
James, who plays for SJK in Finland, will compete with Nwabali and Ikorodu City goalkeeper Michael Atata for a place in goal.
Akpe of FC Basel is the only debutant among the defenders. He joins Osayi-Samuel, Benjamin Fredrick, Isaac James, Emmanuel Fernandez, Kenneth Igboke and Abdullahi Bewene in Chelle’s defensive selection.
The midfield contains six first-time invitees: Chibuzo Nwoko, Stephen Michael, Igor Wilfred, Ridwan Abdulrasaq, Suleiman Mubarak and Ikorodu City’s Aderemi Adeoye.
Ndidi and Onyedika are the only established internationals selected in the eight-man midfield.
Peter Edokpolor, Abubakar Umar and Abdullahi Umar have earned their first senior invitations in attack, while Kelechi Iheanacho returns to the squad.
Simon and Akor Adams complete the six-man forward line.
The selection gives Chelle an opportunity to assess several emerging players while retaining an experienced core for the friendly.
Nwabali, Isaac James, Fredrick, Fernandez, Osayi-Samuel, Ndidi, Onyedika, Simon and Adams are the nine players included in both the Russia squad and the roster for the AFCON qualifiers.
Nigeria will face Russia one week after their September 29 qualifying match against Guinea-Bissau in Bissau.
The countries met at senior level for the first time in June 2025, playing out a 1-1 draw at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Super Eagles squad
Goalkeepers: Michael Atata (Ikorodu City); Samuel James (SJK, Finland); Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa).
Defenders: Kenneth Igboke (Rangers); Isaac James (Alverca, Portugal); Benjamin Fredrick (Brentford, England); Emmanuel Fernandez (Rangers, Scotland); Victory Akpe (FC Basel, Switzerland); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England); Abdullahi Bewene (Banik Ostrava, Czechia).
Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas, Turkey); Raphael Onyedika (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany); Chibuzo Nwoko (Fulham, England); Stephen Michael (Vendsyssel, Denmark); Igor Wilfred (Kristiansund, Norway); Ridwan Abdulrasaq (Al Wasl, United Arab Emirates); Suleiman Mubarak (Slavia Prague, Czechia); Aderemi Adeoye (Ikorodu City).
Forwards: Kelechi Iheanacho (Bursaspor, Turkey); Moses Simon (Paris FC, France); Akor Adams (Venezia, Italy); Peter Edokpolor (Benfica, Portugal); Abubakar Umar (Famalicão, Portugal); Abdullahi Umar (Hradec Králové, Czechia).
© Bold Sports Media. All rights reserved. If sharing, kindly credit Bold Sports as the source and include a link to the original post. Unauthorised use is prohibited.
