The Nigerian Football Federation has announced that the pre-Africa Cup of Nations friendly match between Super Eagles and the Pharaohs of Egypt has been shifted to December 16, citing FIFA regulation over release of players for the tournament.

In a statement on Monday, the federation noted that the Super Eagles were initially scheduled to take on Egypt on December 14 in a preparatory game for the 2025 AFCON but officials have decided to shift the match by two days after FIFA reduced the mandatory release date for players called-up for the tournament to six days instead of the traditional two weeks period before major competitions.

“The decision by world football-governing body, FIFA that Clubs can hold on to their players until Monday, 15 December 2025 before they are released for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco has necessitated the postponement of the pre-AFCON friendly between Nigeria and Egypt,” the statement said.

The federation added, “Seven-time winners Egypt and three-time winners Nigeria were scheduled to clash in a tune-up game in Cairo on Sunday, 14 December, in line with an earlier regulation that ruled that players be released earlier. The game has now been moved to Tuesday, 16 December as a result of the regulation.”

Speaking further, the NFF said that the model of the game has also been changed from a regular fixture to a practice match, which would allow both teams to make more than five substitutions each.

“Aside from the postponement, the game will now be a practice match in order to allow the two teams to make use of more than five substitutes in the encounter, which will kick off at 7 p.m. Nigeria time at the Cairo Stadium,” the federation said.

The Super Eagles are in Group C of the AFCON alongside 2004 champions Tunisia, 1978 runners-up Uganda, and Tanzania. Nigeria’s first match is on December 23 against Tanzania’s Taifa Stars at the Complexe Sportif de Fes, where they will also tackle Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles (December 27) and the Cranes of Uganda (December 30).