Taiwo Awoniyi Leaves Super Eagles Camp Ahead Of Zimbabwe Clash

Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi has withdrawn from the Super Eagles of Nigeria squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe in Kigali, Rwanda.

Recall that Taiwo Awoniyi had to be substituted in the 59th minute of Thursday’s World Cup qualifiers match against Lesotho, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Before he was substituted, Awoniyi missed a golden goalscoring opportunity in the 36th minute which would have given Nigeria the lead.

Most Nigerian football enthusiasts compared the miss to that of retired Super Eagles star Yakubu Aiyegbeni in the 2010 FIFA World Cup match against Korea.

Unfortunately, the 25-year-old Nottingham Forest striker won’t be available for the second game of the qualification series at 2 p.m. on Sunday against Zimbabwe due to a groin injury, according to a post on the Super Eagles X account on Friday. Hence, he would have to wait until 2024 to confirm himself as a dependable Super Eagles striker.

A statement on the Super Eagles official X account reads, “Taiwo Awoniyi has left camp for his base due to a pain in the groin and returns to England tonight (Friday) after discussions between his club doctors and the Super Eagles medical team.”

In the absence of Victor Osimhen of Napoli and now Taiwo Awoniyi, Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro would have to depend on the goalscoring abilities of OGC Nice striker Terem Moffi and Real Sociedad striker Sadiq Umar.

Aside from the aforementioned forwards, the Super Eagles still have Bayer Leverkusen dou, Nathan Tella, and Victor Boniface who is currently the most proven striker in the Nigerian side.

The 22-year-old Bonifac who came to the German Bundesliga from Union Saint-Gilloise, has already scored seven goals and provided five assists in his 11 games in the top division.