On Saturday, Nigeria released its 28-man squad for the 2022 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The team has the regular suspects of the Super Eagles and new additions in Orlando Pirates’ Olisa Ndah, SD Huesca’s Chidiebere Nwakali, and Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis.
Other teams on the continent have been releasing their AFCON squads with majority of the favourites already naming a strong group of players for the football showpiece in January.
From Liverpool’s African trio of Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah and Naby Keita to Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez, and other stars from top European leagues, the squads are buzzing with the expectations of old faces and the surprise of new entrants.
Morocco dropped Chelsea winger, Hakim Ziyech over his clash with the coach, Vahid Halihodzic while Ivory Coast recalled Wilfred Zaha who had initially opted out of playing for the Elephants for most parts of the qualifiers. Ghana also extended an invitation to 18-year old AS Roma attacker, Felix Afena-Gyan after previously rejecting a call-up to the squad.
Some already recorded notable misses from the competition. The players missing out as a result of injuries are: Senegal’s Krepin Diatta and Youssef Sabaly, Nigeria’s Paul Onuachu, Zimbabwe’s Marvelous Nakamba, Ivorian winger Gervinho, Burkina Faso’s Lassina Traore, and a host of others.
The squads released by the countries have sparked conversations across board as African football supporters begin to name their favourite teams for the tournament.
See the Squads Below;
