Onyemaechi doubtful for W’Cup qualifiers

Nigerian defender, Bruno Onyemaechi, has joined the growing list of Super Eagles players doubtful for this month’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe after sustaining a muscle injury in training at Portuguese club Boavista, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Eagles will be without their talisman, Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Chukwueze and Zaidu Sanusi for the qualifiers due to hamstring injures, while striker Taiwo Awoniyi remains a huge doubt for the games despite resuming training at Nottingham Forest.

Onyemaechi missed Boavista’s 2-0 league defeat to Sporting Lisbon on Monday due to a muscle complaint and it remains to be seen if he will be recover well for their fixture against Rio Ave on Sunday.

The Boavista defender was the only player that featured in the Eagles last three games against Saudi Arabia, Mozambique in last month friendlies and their final 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against São Tomé and Príncipe in Uyo.

With the exception of the AFCON qualifier against Sierra Leone, Onyemaechi has been called up for all the games played by the Eagles since November 2022.

The 24-year-old is a very important player for Boavista, having started seven of their nine games in the league this term.

Meanwhile, Onyemaechi’s teammate, Chidozie Awaziem, has been nominated for Boavista’s Player of The Month for October and faces competition from Sebastián Pérez and Róbert Boženík to win the accolade.