The latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive as Blues wait for AFCON confirmation
Bright Osayi-Samuel of Birmingham City(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
Bright Osayi-Samuel has been named in Nigeria’s provisional squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The right back, who started for Birmingham City for the first time in seven games in Monday night’s 2-1 win over Watford, is in a 54-strong squad for the tournament that runs from December 21-January 18, 2026.
That squad, which includes the likes of Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen and Fulham’s Alex Iwobi, will be trimmed down imminently.
A statement from the NFF said: “A final list of 28 players will be drawn from the provisional list in a matter of days.”
The Super Eagles are scheduled to open their training camp in Egypt on December 10, but FIFA has now, rather surprisingly, told clubs they don’t have to release players until December 15.
That means Osayi-Samuel is available for the trips to Southampton, QPR and the home match with Charlton on December 13.
With Ola Aina’s injury problems, the Blues man will be hopeful but not guaranteed to make the final cut. He was named in the last one for the World Cup qualifiers against Gabon and DR Congo. He played 109 minutes of the play-off win over Gabon.
He has won 25 caps for Nigeria and while he probably won’t be available for their warm-up matches, he could face Tanzania on December 23, Tunisia on December 27 and Uganda three days later.
If Nigeria make it through to the knockout stages, the round of 16 games take place between January 3-6, the quarter-finals from January 9-10, the semi-finals on January 14 and the final four days afterwards.
Nigeria last won AFCON in 2013, they lost in the final in January 2024 and reached the last 16 in 2021.
In theory, Osayi-Samuel could be ruled out for six Championship games and the FA Cup third round, at a time when Ethan Laird is out injured.
Tomoki Iwata is the stand-out candidate to start, having taken Osayi-Samuel’s place several weeks ago. Alfons Sampsted came off the bench to replace Osayi-Samuel against Watford for a rare appearance.
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Nigeria’s provisional squad.
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Maduka Okoya (Udinese FC, Italy); Adebayo Adeleye (Volos FC, Greece); Francis Uzoho (Omonia FC, Cyprus); Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel ( Birmingham City, England); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic); Felix Agu (Werder Bremen, Germany); Ryan Alebiosu (Blackburn Rovers, England); Adekunle Adeleke (Abia Warriors)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); Christantus Uche (Crystal Palace, England); Tochukwu Nnadi (Zulte Waregem, Belgium); Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (SS Lazio, Italy); Ebenezer Akinsanmiro (Pisa SC, Italy); Usman Muhammed (Ironi Tiberias, Israel); Peter Agba (Maccabi Haifa, Israel); Tom Dele-Bashiru (Gençlerbirligi SK, Turkey)
Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain); Olakunle Olusegun (Pari Nizhny Novgorod, Russia); Sadiq Umar (Real Sociedad, Spain); Kelechi Iheanacho (Celtic Glasgow, Scotland); Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest, England); Victor Boniface (Werder Bremen, Germany); Paul Onuachu (Trabzonspor AS, Turkey); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Cyriel Dessers (Panathinaikos FC, Greece); Abdulrasheed Shehu (Niger Tornadoes); Rafiu Durosinmi (Viktoria Plzen, Czech Republic); Ekeson Okorie (Nasarawa United); Chisom Orji (Warri Wolves); Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi (OH Leuven, Belgium); Philip Otele (FC Basel, Switzerland); Salim Fago Lawal (NK Istra 1961 (Croatia); Emmanuel Michael (Linzer Athletik SK, Austria)
What have you made of Osayi-Samuel’s season so far? Have your say here
