Nigeria: Wilfred Ndidi faces Africa Cup of Nations semi-final ban as Super Eagles handed fresh injury scare | OneFootball

Super Eagles take on host nation in AFCON semi-final without a key player

Nigeria will be without Wilfred Ndidi for their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against Morocco next week.

The Super Eagles recorded a fourth straight win at AFCON 2025 as they dominated Algeria in Saturday’s quarter-final at the Grand stadium in Marrakesh.

Osimhen then turned provider for Adams ten minutes later, unselfishly squaring to his strike partner to do the rest after being superbly picked out by Alex Iwobi.

Victory means Nigeria will move onto Rabat to take on Morocco in the semi-final at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Wednesday night.

The one negative from a Super Eagles perspective ahead of the semi-final was the yellow card shown to Ndidi in the 67th minute as he was penalised by referee, Issa Sy for time-wasting.

With that being the former Leicester midfielder’s second booking in the AFCON knockout phase, he must serve a one-game suspension as a punishment.

Therefore, Ndidi will be unavailable for selection when Nigeria face Morocco.

Banned: Wilfred Ndidi

AFP via Getty Images

Chelle can turn to Raphael Onyedika as a replacement for Ndidi against the host nation as that was the change the Super Eagles boss made against Algeria when the latter picked up a knock prior to his yellow card.

Frank Onyeka and Calvin Bassey were the other two Nigeria players in danger of missing the semi-final if booked against Algeria, but the pair each avoided another yellow card.

In a further concern, Nigeria will be sweating on the fitness of Bright Osayi-Samuel after the right-back limped off in stoppage time.

Nigeria were preparing to take off Osimhen but were forced into change after seeing Osayi-Samuel struggling and Igoh Ogbu came on to see out a second clean sheet of the tournament.