Just days after the Super Falcons claimed their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title, Nigeria’s football focus shifts to the men’s home-based senior team, the Super Eagles B, who kick off their campaign at the 2025 African Nations Championship (CHAN) on Tuesday.
Nigeria will face defending champions Senegal in their opening Group B match of the tournament, which began on Saturday and is jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. The competition runs until August 30.
This is Nigeria’s fourth appearance at CHAN — a tournament reserved for players who ply their trade in their domestic leagues.
The country’s best finishes came in 2014 and 2018, where they won bronze and silver medals respectively.
They missed the last two editions but returned in style, defeating Ghana’s Black Galaxies 3-0 on aggregate to book their spot in this year’s finals.
Grouped alongside Senegal, Sudan, and Congo, the Super Eagles B will be aiming to finally clinch a first-ever CHAN title.
Led by Franco-Malian coach Eric Chelle, the squad includes several standout players from the qualifiers such as goalkeeper Ozoemena Ani, defenders Sodiq Ismaila and Junior Nduka, midfielder Alex Oyowah, and forwards Anas Yusuf and Sikiru Alimi.
The squad has also been bolstered by impressive additions like Steven Mayo and Leonard Ngenge in defence, Adedayo Olamilekan, Hadi Haruna, and Michael Tochukwu in midfield, and attacking options Temitope Vincent, Shola Adelani, and Godwin Obaje.
Chelle, speaking ahead of the match, expressed confidence in the team’s preparation and mentality.
The squad trained for three weeks in Ikenne-Remo before spending 10 days in Zanzibar, where they were held to two draws (0-0 and 2-2) by the Zanzibar national team. Prior to that, they won all three build-up games at their Ikenne camp.
Nigeria’s opening clash will take place at the 15,000-capacity Amaan Stadium, where Chelle will be gunning for maximum points to boost the team’s confidence ahead of challenging fixtures against Sudan and Congo.
Meanwhile, joint-host Tanzania made a strong start to the tournament, defeating Burkina Faso 2-0 in their Group B opener at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.