IN NIGERIA
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Super Eagles Head Coach, Eric Chelle has expressed displeasure over the lack of adequate training sessions ahead of Tuesday’s Group L, matchday 2, 2027 AFCON qualifier against Guinea-Bissau.
Chelle said the congested FIFA window has made it difficult for the technical crew to properly drill the team.
The Super Eagles arrived in Bissau on Sunday after just two days of training in Uyo, with some foreign-based players joining the camp late due to club commitments.
Despite the limited preparation time, Chelle assured that the team is ready to fight for all three points against the Djurtus.
The Group L encounter is scheduled to kick off at 5pm at the Estádio Nacional 24 de Setembro in Bissau.
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Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Emmanuel Ikpeme, has urged the Super Eagles to remain fully focused and avoid complacency as they prepare to face Guinea-Bissau in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.
Ikpeme delivered the message to the players ahead of the crucial encounter, reminding them of Nigeria’s previous meeting with Guinea-Bissau at the same venue.
Nigeria will take on the Wild Dogs at the 24 de Setembro in Bissau on Tuesday, with Ikpeme stressing the importance of securing all three points.
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Manchester City U17 coach, Chuks Akuneto, has backed the Super Eagles to secure victory against Guinea-Bissau.
He stressed that Eric Chelle’s side have the experience to handle the pressure of high-stakes games, Completesports.com reports.
Akuneto believes the three-time African champions have what it takes to overcome the Djurtus in the crucial away fixture, Completesports.com reports.
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The Confederation of African Football has appointed a team of Ethiopian officials to oversee Tuesday’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Guinea-Bissau and the Super Eagles.
Tewodros Mitiku will serve as the centre referee, with Fasika Biru and Tigle Belachew serving as first and second assistant referees.
Manuhe Woldetsadik will be the fourth official and Senegal’s Yaya Balde will serve as the match commissioner, while former FIFA referee Papa Bakary Gassama of The Gambia was appointed as the referee assessor.
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Super Eagles star, Moses Usor says advice from his teammate Moses Simon inspired him to take the risk that produced his spectacular winning goal in the two-one victory over Madagascar.
The LASK of Austria winger said Simon’s words during the warm-up gave him the confidence to express himself and take on defenders.
The winger also expressed his joy at finally making his long-awaited Super Eagles debut, especially with his family present to witness the occasion.
Following his impressive introduction, Usor has pledged to continue working hard whenever he is given the opportunity to represent Nigeria.
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Athletic Bilbao winger, Álvaro Djaló has outlined Guinea-Bissau’s clear ambition to maintain a perfect record in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, as the Djurtus prepare to face the Super Eagles.
Djaló acknowledged the formidable individual quality packed into the Nigerian squad but stressed that his side is entering the fixture with high motivation and absolute confidence.
Djaló emphasised that Guinea-Bissau’s overarching goal for the qualification campaign is straightforward.
While maintaining a bold stance, the La Liga attacker admitted that facing Nigeria requires total concentration, highlighting the depth of talent available to the West African giants.
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Nigeria’s Flamingos’ duo Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Onyinyechi Opara were named Most Valuable Player and best goalkeeper, at the just concluded 2026 WAFU B Under-seventeen17 Girls Cup in Côte d’Ivoire.
The Flamingos rounded off the tournament with a dominant four-nil win against Togo to be crowned champions.
At the end of the tournament the organisers announced Adegbuyi as the best player while teammate Opara was awarded the golden glove.
Also this year, Adegbuyi won the WAFU-B Women’s Champions League Qualifiers Player of the Tournament and the 2025/26 NWFL Premiership Player of the Season.
Up next for the Flamingos is the Under-seventeen women’s World Cup which will run from 17th October to 7th November in Morocco.
The Flamingos are in Group B with North Korea, Poland and Puerto Rico.
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The Federation of Uganda Football Associations, has secured the international allegiance of two Nigerian-born goalkeepers, Akpan Udoh and Kingdom Osayi, as part of a broader drive to integrate heritage players into the Uganda Cranes squad.
A well-known name in Nigerian youth football, Udoh was the first-choice goalkeeper for the Golden Eaglets side that won the FIFA Under-seventeen World Cup in Chile in 2015, alongside stars like Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze.
According to the association, he qualifies for Uganda through his grandparent from Busia.
While Osayi qualifies for Uganda through his maternal grandmother born in Kaberamaido.
The duo joins the Cranes setup as Uganda prepares for upcoming international fixtures and qualifiers.
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Bendel Insurance head coach, Kennedy Boboye has admitted that his side were punished for their poor first-half performance in their three-nil defeat to Abia Warriors.
Boboye, who previously managed Sunshine Stars, Heartland, Akwa United and Plateau United, said his team failed to match the intensity of the game in the first half and were duly punished.
He explained that the trio were included in the starting lineup because they have been regular starters since joining Insurance and not simply because they were facing their former club.
Boboye acknowledged that the record is not ideal for a team with title ambitions, insisting that his side must improve their away form while targeting maximum points against Barau FC in their next home fixture.
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IN ENGLAND
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The duo of England stars Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly are both doubts to play in England’s Nations League match against the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
The pair were the only two members of the England squad to miss training on Monday morning, with the players following their own individual programmes.
Both played the full ninety minutes in England’s three-two loss to Spain.
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Manchester City Chief Executive, Ferran Soriano has issued a defiant message to the executives of other teams about the club being found guilty of a majority of Premier League charges.
He was speaking at a board meeting of European Football Clubs (formerly the ECA) in Copenhagen before its general assembly on Tuesday.
Soriano was said to have vowed to fight the charges and the process had a long way to run, reiterating what the club’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a letter to fans.
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Former Manchester City goalkeeper, Joe Hart believes club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s claims they are innocent of breaking financial rules.
City have been found guilty of the majority of 115 breaches of financial rules they had been accused of by the Premier League, although they are set to appeal against the ruling.
Al Mubarak said he is still committed to proving the club’s innocence and the process still has a long way to run.
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Italy Manager, Roberto Mancini says an alleged double contract during his time as Manchester City manager is not his concern after the club were found guilty of breaking the majority of the financial rules they were accused of breaching.
The 115 charges brought by the Premier League against City included fourteen instances of failing to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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France star Michael Olise’s superb late solo goal secured France victory over Belgium as Zinedine Zidane’s side made it two wins from two in the Nations League.
Les Bleus boss Zidane, overseeing his second match in charge, made nine changes from the win against Turkey but had to turn to his bench to break down a stubborn Belgian defence in Brussels.
Bayern Munich winger Olise took the ball down on his shoulder in his own half then set off on a brilliant run, racing up the pitch and shaking off a defender before coolly slotting into the bottom corner in the 88th minute.
France sit top of Group A1 and will take on Italy on Friday while, Belgium face Turkey.
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Roberto Mancini got his first win following his return as Italy manager as they beat Turkey four-one in the Nations League.
The 61-year-old was appointed for a second time last month after the departure of Gennaro Gattuso in April when the Azzurri failed to qualify for a third successive World Cup.
He suffered disappointment in the first game on his return with a home loss to Belgium on Friday, prompting questions over whether failure to qualify for the World Cup was still hanging over the nation.
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Welsh football coach, Craig Bellamy remains convinced Wales are worthy of their place in the Nations League top tier despite a losing start to the campaign.
Wales are without a point in their group following a two-nil defeat in Denmark just three days after losing one-nil to Portugal in Lisbon.
Wales, without a victory in six matches in 2026 have failed to win any of their eight matches in League A when combining their current efforts with those in 2022.
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President of the Football Association of Ireland, Paul Cooke says Republic of Ireland could have faced undetermined sanctions had they not played their Nations League match against Israel.
Cooke added that along with standard punishments for not fulfilling a fixture, there was were also possible undetermined extras.
The players did not shake hands with each other and the Republic of Ireland squad bowed their heads when Israel’s anthem was played before their three-nil win in Hungary.
The two Nations League fixtures, being played at neutral venues, have been embroiled in controversy since February when the two teams were drawn to play each other in Group B3.
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Scotland head coach, Sebastien Pocognoli says he does not have any concerns about a lack of goals as Scotland prepare for his first home match in charge against Switzerland on Tuesday.
In his debut as head coach on Saturday, a Nations League stalemate in Slovenia was Scotland’s third successive match without a goal, following World Cup blanks against Morocco and Brazil in June.
Pocognoli hoped Scotland could use the Slovenia match as like a training session for the visit of Murat Yakin’s side.
Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson, who played the 90 minutes in Ljubljana, echoed his national head coach’s thoughts.
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OTHER SPORTS
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In Cricket, Wicketkeeper Jos Buttler will miss England’s 50-over tri-series in Pakistan next month, with Jordan Cox set to be given another chance to impress in his place.
Buttler has been ruled out with the hamstring injury suffered while batting in Thursday’s second one-day international against Sri Lanka at Headingley.
Coach Brendon McCullum said it is hard to judge how long Buttler will be out for and confirmed Cox will take his place for the series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which begins on 20th October.
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In Formula one, Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto for saying the Argentine should be banned for causing an accident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Colapinto locked up at the restart after a safety-car period and slid into Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who then hit McLaren driver Norris, in an incident which resulted in all three retiring from the race.
Colapinto said he was sorry for his big mistake but Norris said give him a ban.
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In Cycling, Olympic gold medallist Katy Marchant has announced her retirement from cycling.
The 33-year-old helped the women’s team sprint trio win Britain’s first Olympic gold in that event at the 2024 Paris Games.
In the same year, she won World and European titles, to add to an individual sprint bronze medal on her Olympic debut in Rio in 2016.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
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IN CAF AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS
Liberia vs Mali
Madagascar vs Tanzania
Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria
Lesotho vs Morocco
South Sudan vs Egypt
Ghana vs Gambia
Somalia vs Ivory Coast
Congo vs Cameroon
Uganda vs Libya
Burundi vs Algeria
Ethiopia vs Senegal
Cape Verde vs Rwanda
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IN UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE
Finland vs Belarus
Scotland vs Switzerland
Czech Republic vs England
Spain vs Croatia
Bulgaria vs Estonia
Luxembourg vs Iceland
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
If you do not believe you can do it, then you have no chance at all…words from Arsene Wenger.
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