A big blow for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, who will now be without Galatasaray talisman Victor Osimhen for their 2027 AFCON qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau despite being listed in Eric Chelle’s 24-man team on Thursday.
Before the invitation, Victor Osimhen had been sidelined due to an injury he sustained early this month while in action for Galatasaray during the Turkish Lig game against Basaksehir, where Victor Osimhen had scored in the 16th minute before he was stretched out and replaced 17 minutes after he scored.
Although there wasn’t a fixed return date for Victor Osimhen from the Galatasaray medical assessment team, according to them, the injury was considered significant enough for him to miss Galatasaray’s Champions League match against Sporting CP and the subsequent league game against Kocaelispor.
Given this, the Super Eagles had believed he would be available for the team, but his unavailability for Galatasaray last night during their Turkish Lig tie against Trabzonspor, where they were thrashed 4-0 with former Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah netting a hat-trick and going ahead of the Nigerian on the top scorer chart, taking his tally to 7 while Victor remains second with 6 goals, the Super Eagles announced that the striker won’t be available for the qualifiers while he continues his recovery.
“Victor Osimhen will miss Nigeria’s AFCON 2027 qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau as he continues to recover from a muscle strain.
We wish Victor a speedy recovery.”
This wouldn’t just be a big blow for the Super Eagles only, Galatasaray have struggled during his absence, winning just a game by 1-0 and losing two games after three matches.
The Super Eagles are billed to host Madagascar on September 25, and will travel to play Guinea-Bissau for Matchday one and two of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
