- The Nigeria Football Federation has provided the latest update on the Super Eagles camp in Antalya, Turkey
- All invited players have arrived in camp, with the exception of Calvin Bassey, who withdrew due to injury
- Iranian players are looking forward to the encounter as they seek a win to brighten the mood in their country
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has provided the latest update from the Super Eagles camp ahead of the friendly matches against Iran and Jordan.
NFF arranged two friendly matches for the Super Eagles as an alternative in case the petition to FIFA against DR Congo failed, and it eventually did.
Source: Getty Images
The matches were originally scheduled to be played in Amman, Jordan, but the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, which led to escalation in the Middle East, forced a change of venue to Antalya, Turkey.
Nigeria will face Iran in the first match of the four-nation invitational tournament on March 27, 2026, and Jordan on March 31 at Corendon Airlines Antalya Stadium.
Super Eagles camp update
Eric Chelle invited 23 players for the friendly matches, excluding star forward Victor Osimhen, even before his injury against Liverpool hours later.
NFF has confirmed that all invited players have arrived in camp, with the exception of Calvin Bassey, who withdrew due to a back injury, leaving Chelle with 22 players.
The team had their first training session on Wednesday under the supervision of Chelle, with top stars Alex Iwobi, Akor Adams and others active during the session.
Iran stars look forward to facing Nigeria
Iranian stars Hossein Abarghouei and Omid Noorafkan look forward to facing the Super Eagles and are optimistic of getting a good result to make their people happy amid the ongoing war.
Abarghouei is confident that their situation would not stop them from competing against Nigeria and sees it as an important match in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“Thank God, our training is going very well, and we have a very good camp. I hope we can make people happy by getting good results against Nigeria and Costa Rica, because this game is an important step towards participating in the World Cup,” he told Tasnim News Agency, as quoted by ANS.
“All the boys have been practising individually. Our physical condition is good, and we can compete with Nigeria.”
Source: Getty Images
Noorafkan added that their physical condition is improving since they arrived in Turkey, having faced difficulties back home, and hopes they will have a good result.
“We’ve only been working out for 4-5 days, and our physical condition is improving day by day. The fact that we couldn’t do anything before the Turkish camp makes it difficult, but with our physical condition improving, I hope we can have an acceptable game against Nigeria and at least make people happy,” he said.
Nigeria will face Jordan in their second match, while Iran will face Costa Rica. Jordan and Costa Rica will face off in their respective first matches.
Cyriel Dessers out of the season
Legit.ng previously reported that Cyriel Dessers will miss the rest of the season after suffering a setback to the injury that forced him to withdraw from AFCON.
Dessers left camp with a thigh injury, and after weeks of conservative rehabilitation, the injury failed to heal and has to undergo surgery, thus ending his season.
Source: Legit.ng
