Odion Ighalo returns to Super Eagles, to face Ghana

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has disclosed that Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia striker Odion Ighalo will return for the World Cup playoffs vs Ghana, Soccernet reports. The Super Eagles will take on the Black Stars in March in a double-legged fixture and one of the teams will progress to the World Cup finals in Qatar.

Ighalo could not honour national call up for the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon due to issues with the club.

But Pinnick who visited the 32-year-old striker in Qatar, where he is representing his club at the FIFA World Club Cup, assured that the former Manchester United striker will return against Ghana. Pinnick Tweeted: “I just met with @ighalojude, the highest goalscorer at the 2019 edition of the AFCON, now playing and still scoring goals for Saudi Arabia’s biggest football club.

“Odion has assured that playing for his country will always come first and he is ready to ensure that we do play at this year’s @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar.”

…on the continent. Congratulations to the Teranga Lions of Senegal as well. We will see you at the finals of the next Nations Cup.

Next. I would like to stress that qualifying for the Qatar World Cup is non-negotiable and we are doing everything possible to ensure…

— Amaju Melvin Pinnick (@PinnickAmaju) February 10, 2022

Ighalo had initially retired from national duty in 2019, but he came out of retirement after speaking to Pinnick and ex-Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr.