FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (October 3, 2025) – New England Revolution midfielder Alhassan Yusuf has been called up by the Nigeria Men's National Team for international duty in a pair of October FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches. Yusuf and Nigeria will take on Lesotho in Polokwane, South Africa on Friday, Oct. 10 (12:00 p.m. ET) before returning home to host Benin on Tuesday, Oct. 14 (12:00 p.m. ET).
The Super Eagles currently sit in third place in the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) Group C with a 2-1-5 record through eight of 10 games played in FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifying. The winner of each group will directly qualify to the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will participate in play-offs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Yusuf is one of five Revolution players thus far to earn national team call-ups in October, joining Matt Turner (United States), Dor Turgeman (Israel), and Allan Oyirwoth (Uganda) at the senior level, along with Peyton Miller (United States Under-20) who is away from the team while participating at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
The midfielder has been capped eight times by Nigeria, most recently seeing action back in March against Rwanda, entering the match as a second half substitute. Yusuf has made three appearances in World Cup Qualifying, along with three additional appearances in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in which Nigeria finished runner-up to host Cote d’Ivoire. Yusuf has started 31 of his 32 MLS appearances for New England in his second MLS campaign, tallying one goal and two assists.
New England visits Inter Miami CF on Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Chase Stadium. Watch Saturday's match on **MLS Season Pass on Apple TV** in English and Spanish. Listen to Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies call the action on 98.5 The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM), or tune into 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA for Portuguese commentary.
Nigeria
FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifying (CAF)
October 10 at Lesotho
Peter Mokaba Stadium – Polokwane, South Africa
12:00 p.m. ET
October 14 vs. Benin
Godswill Akpabio International Stadium – Uyo, Nigeria
12:00 p.m. ET
