Coventry City striker Taiwo Awoniyi has been recalled to the Super Eagles for the first time since October 2024, replacing Victor Osimhen after the Galatasaray forward was ruled out of Nigeria’s opening 2027 AFCON qualifiers.

The Nigeria Football Federation confirmed the change on Sunday, welcoming Awoniyi back to the national team after almost two years away.

Coventry City striker, Taiwo Awoniyi replaces Victor Osimhen in Nigeria’s squad for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.

Welcome back, Taiwo. 🦅#SoarSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/L5MMPoCpEU

— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) September 20, 2026

The 29-year-old last appeared for Nigeria in October 2024, when he featured in the Super Eagles’ 1-0 victory over Libya in an AFCON qualifier.

Awoniyi was not part of Eric Chelle’s original 24-man squad announced on Thursday. Osimhen was, despite having been sidelined with a muscle injury sustained during Galatasaray’s league game against Başakşehir earlier this month. The striker’s recovery has taken longer than initially anticipated, eventually ruling him out of Nigeria’s first two qualifiers.

His absence leaves Chelle without the forward who has scored 35 goals in 52 appearances for Nigeria, and opens the door for a player whose time with the national team has been anything but straightforward.

Awoniyi’s international career has been interrupted by injuries and inconsistent playing time at Nottingham Forest, where he spent four seasons after joining from Union Berlin in 2022. He left Forest this summer for newly promoted Coventry City in a reported £9 million move ahead of the 2026/27 football season.

The move was one of the Nigerian transfer stories worth watching at the start of the new season. A fresh environment was supposed to give Awoniyi a chance to rebuild the momentum disrupted by injuries and a diminishing role at Forest.

Awoniyi has featured in all four of Coventry’s Premier League matches this season, starting three, while also scoring and assisting in the club’s League Cup win over Plymouth Argyle. He is yet to score in the league, though, and was sent off in Coventry’s 5-0 defeat to Brighton on September 13.

Still, his return to the Super Eagles suggests that Chelle remains willing to look beyond recent numbers when considering the qualities available to him in attack. Awoniyi offers a different profile from some of Nigeria’s other forwards, and his familiarity with the demands of international football is now being called upon at a particularly important point in the team’s campaign.

Nigeria begin their AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign against Madagascar at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on September 25, before travelling to face Guinea-Bissau four days later. The Super Eagles are in Group L alongside Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau and co-hosts Tanzania, with only the highest-ranked team other than automatic qualifiers Tanzania progressing from the group.

Awoniyi’s return also comes against the backdrop of a broader reshaping of Chelle’s squad. The coach named a separate, more experimental group for Nigeria’s October 6 friendly against Russia in Nizhny Novgorod, with players such as Kelechi Iheanacho, alongside a number of less-established names, included in that selection.

That friendly will be Nigeria’s second meeting with Russia in 16 months, following their 1-1 draw in Moscow in June 2025.