{"id":35132,"date":"2026-05-22T12:05:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35132"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:05:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:05:03","slug":"nigeria-names-strong-squad-for-unity-cup-international-friendlies","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nigeria-names-strong-squad-for-unity-cup-international-friendlies\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria names strong squad for Unity Cup, international friendlies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria\u2019s national football team head coach Eric Chelle has named a balanced squad blending experienced stars and emerging talent ahead of the 2026 Unity Cup tournament and upcoming international friendlies against Poland and Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Unity Cup, scheduled to take place at Charlton Athletic\u2019s Valley Stadium in London from May 26 to 30, will feature Nigeria alongside Zimbabwe, Jamaica and India.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The 27-man squad includes leading players such as Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Wilfred Ndidi, as the Super Eagles step up preparations for upcoming continental and global assignments, including the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chelle has also included several new faces and home-based players, saying the tournament will offer an opportunity to assess combinations and test tactical systems ahead of more competitive fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria, three-time African champions, are also preparing for the 2027 AFCON qualifiers, where they have been drawn in a group with Madagascar, Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15438,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-35132","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Nigeria\u2019s national football team head coach Eric Chelle has named a balanced squad ahead of the 2026 Unity Cup tournament","published_date":"2026-05-22 11:55:52","news_description":"Nigeria\u2019s national football team head coach Eric Chelle has named a balanced squad ahead of the 2026 Unity Cup tournament","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35133,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35132\/revisions\/35133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}