AFCON2023: Iheanacho, Moffi expected on Saturday, Umar out

The remaining players are anticipated to include Super Eagles forwards Kelechi Iheanacho and Terem Moffi, who will go to Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.


It has been reported that Iheanacho will arrive one day prior to Nigeria’s first encounter with Equatorial Guinea, despite Real Sociedad striker Sadiq Umar’s elimination from the competition.

Moffi, who was Victor Boniface’s last-minute replacement, is anticipated to join the team on Sunday.


The AFCON will run till February 11 and begins on Saturday with a match between Guinea-Bissau and Cote d’Ivoire, the hosts and Nigeria’s Group A opponents.

According to Babafemi Raji, the media officer for the Super Eagles, neither player participated in the team’s second practice on Thursday in Abidjan.

Umar, who is now in Abidjan, ran by himself on the sidelines on Thursday while Peseiro and his team worked with the remaining 22 of the final 25 men. Umar did not practice with the rest of the squad.

This came after the Real Sociedad striker, who would miss at least three weeks of activity due to a knee injury, sustained during their warm-up game against Guinea in Abu Dhabi.

Before the team’s one-week training camp in Abu Dhabi came to an end, Wilfred Ndidi, a midfielder for Leicester, was the first to be declared out. He was replaced by Alhassan Yusuf of Antwerp. Victor Boniface, a hot player for Bayer Leverkusen, also sustained a groin injury.