Nwabali heading off with Super Eagles

Chippa United goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was named on Saturday in the squad for Nigeria’s vital World Cup playoffs this week, set to keep up his role as the country’s first-choice keeper.

Nigeria take on Gabon in Rabat on Thursday, and if they win that match, they will progress to the African playoff final against either Cameroon or the Democratic Republic of Congo on 16 November, also in the Moroccan capital.

The playoffs for the four best runners-up across the nine African groups after the conclusion of qualifying last month offer a further opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, but the winner will have to get past teams from other continents in another playoff series in March.

Nigeria coach Eric Chelle has named 24 players for the trip to Rabat and has tweaked the selection from last month’s wins over Lesotho and Benin, which saw Nigeria power their way to second behind Bafana Bafana in group C and grab a playoff slot.

Italy-based goalkeeper Maduka Okoye returns as cover for Nwabali, with Chidozie Awaziem restored to the squad in defence. Belgium-based Raphael Onyedika returns among the midfielders, as does striker Chidera Ejuke.

Out of the squad from last month’s qualifiers go Felix Agu, Terem Moffi and Christantus Uche.

SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa), Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania), Maduka Okoye (Udinese, Italy)

Defenders: Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes, France), Semi Ajayi (Hull City, England), Calvin Bassey (Fulham, England), Benjamin Fredericks (Dender, Belgium), Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece), Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England), Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal), William Troost-Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia)

Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham, England), Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas, Turkey), Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium), Frank Onyeka (Brentford, England), Alhassan Yusuf (New England Revolution, USA)

Forwards: Akor Adams (Sevilla, Spain), Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham, England), Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla, Spain), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta, Italy), Olakunle Olusegun (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia), Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray, Turkey), Moses Simon (Paris FC, France).