Nigeria’s Super Eagles are set to play Russia on Tuesday without seven invited players, following late withdrawals linked to injuries, club restrictions, and travel documentation problems. The affected players are reported as Wilfred Ndidi, Raphael Onyedika, Moses Usor, Akpe Victory, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ridwan Abdulrasaq Popoola, and Suleiman Mubarak.
Multiple outlets report that coach Éric Chelle’s squad is reduced to about 18 players as the friendly approaches. The reasons cited for the absences include players carrying injuries, clubs declining to release them for the match, and at least one residence permit or travel paperwork issue. One outlet also notes that a residence permit problem contributes to the final list of unavailable players.
Across the reports, the common point is that the match is still scheduled to proceed, but Nigeria’s lineup will be missing several established squad members. The outlets differ mainly in emphasis—some focusing on the player list, others on how these issues shrink the available squad size.
