Big blow for Nigeria as Frederick is ruled out of AFCON 2025

Nigeria’s team, the Super Eagles, has been dealt a massive blow with the fact that Benjamin Fredrick will miss the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco due to a knee injury.

The 20-year-old defender has been a revelation for Nigeria since making his debut against Jamaica in the Unity Cup on May 31, 2025 which the Super Eagles won. He has since won the hearts of millions of the Eagles fans for his consistency as seen in the World Cup quailifying matches he played under Coach Eric Chelle.

Fredrick has yet to feature for Brentford and was sent out on loan to Belgian Pro League side Dender for the 2025/26 season in order to gain greater first-team experience.

The youngster who last featured for Nasarawa United in the Nigerian league was absent for their 2-1 victory over Royal Antwerp on Saturday and it has since been revealed that he sustained an injury in training the previous day.

Fredrick started the last six World Cup qualifiers under Chelle and was expected to go to AFCON next month, but he is now set to be ruled out for the rest of the year.

“#BrentfordFC’s #Nigeria defender Benjamin Fredrick set to miss #AFCON2025 with knee injury picked up in training at Belgian club Dender on Friday,” reporter, Sina Okeleji who is Europe announced on X. “Expected to return to action after the tournament.”