AFCON 2025
Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong has retired from the national team.
The development comes weeks before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Troost-Ekong announced his retirement in a post via his X page.
Football transfers expert, Fabrizio Romano announced the news on his X page on Thursday.
“William Troost-Ekong has decided to retire from international football and won’t play for Nigeria again.”
“After 83 caps, 3 medals and playing in 5 major tournaments, Troost-Ekong says goodbye to the Super Eagles.”
Troost-Ekong, being the most experienced player on Eric Chelle’s team was meant to lead the Super Eagles to the 34th Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
His retirement comes after the Super Eagles missed out on qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
William Troost-Ekong led the Super Eagles to a second-place finish at the last Africa Cup of Nations where the team finished second behind host Cote d’Ivoire.
The 34-year-old defender holds the record for the highest-scoring defender in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations with five goals.
William Troost-Ekong’s retirement note
TODAY, I AM ANNOUNCING MY RETIREMENT FROM INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL.
IN 2015 A PHONE CALL FROM THE LATE STEPHEN KESHI CHANGED MY LIFE. A MONTH LATER THE BIG BOSS GAVE ME MY DEBUT. HIS BELIEF IN ME IGNITED A DESIRE TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS.
EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAVE PUT ON THAT ICONIC SHIRT TO WALK OUT ONTO THE PITCH, I HAVE THOUGHT BACK TO THAT MOMENT. GOING ON TO CAPTAIN THE SUPER EAGLES WAS BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS. NIGERIA TOOK ME IN AND TRUSTED ME TO LEAD AND REPRESENT A NATION OF 230+ MILLION. FROM A BOY BORN AND RAISED IN THE NETHERLANDS TO THE OYIBO WALL AND EVENTUALLY SKIPPO IS A PRIVILEGE I WILL ALWAYS HOLD CLOSE TO MY HEART.
TO HAVE ACHIEVED 83 SENIOR CAPS, PLAYED IN FIVE MAJOR TOURNAMENTS, WON THREE MEDALS, AND BROKEN A FEW RECORDS-I HAVE LIVED MY DREAM.
A BRONZE MEDAL AT THE RIO 2016 OLYMPICS, FOLLOWED BY PLAYING AT THE 2018 WORLD CUP IN RUSSIA, AND THREE INCREDIBLE AFCON TOURNAMENTS WITH A BRONZE AND MOST RECENTLY SILVER MEDAL WILL REMAIN UNFORGETTABLE.
BEING ABLE TO LEAD NIGERIA THROUGH THE 2023 AFCON, SCORING IN THE FINAL AND BEING NAMED PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL. TO THIS DAY I STILL WISH FOR A DIFFERENT ENDING. BECOMING THE HIGHEST-SCORING DEFENDER IN AFCON HISTORY IS AN HONOR I SHARE WITH EVERY TEAMMATE WHO WAS A PART OF THOSE MOMENTS. THAT TOURNAMENT TAUGHT ME WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TO BE NIGERIAN; THAT IN ADVERSITY, WE COME TOGETHER, WE HUSTLE, WE FIGHT THROUGH THE PAIN AND WE RISE.
I AM AT PEACE KNOWING THAT THROUGHOUT ALL THESE MILESTONES I GAVE EVERYTHING I HAD. NOT JUST FOR MYSELF BUT TO TRY TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION THE SAME WAY I WAS INSPIRED BY THE LEGENDS I LOOKED UP TO, AND HAD THE PLEASURE TO FIGHT SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH.
IT HAS BEEN FUN TO PLAY ALONGSIDE MY NIGERIAN TEAMMATES, BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT TOGETHER. WATCHING THEM GROW INTO LEADERS, TIME HAS COME TO PASS ON THE RESPONSIBILITY, TO PASS ON THE OPPORTUNITY AND PASS ON THE CAPTAINCY. AS A CUSTODIAN OF AN ICONIC SHIRT, I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN IT WAS ONLY BORROWED. NOW IT’S THE TURN OF THE NEXT GENERATION TO CONTINUE TO WRITE THEIR OWN STORY.
BORN IN THE DIASPORA I AM SO PROUD TO BE PART OF A GROUP THAT FULLY SHOWED ITS POSSIBLE TO COME HOME TO PLAY AND REPRESENT OUR NATION.
NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE PEOPLE AROUND ME. TO EVERY COACH, MEMBER OF STAFF AND MOST IMPORTANTLY MY TEAMMATES PAST AND PRESENT WHO HAVE BEEN PART OF MY INTERNATIONAL JOURNEY, THANK YOU!
TO THE NIGERIAN FANS – THE HEARTBEAT OF NIGERIAN FOOTBALL. YOUR SUPPORT HAS CARRIED ME THROUGH EVERY HIGH AND EVERY CHALLENGE. I WILL STAND WITH YOU AS YOU STOOD WITH ME.
THIS ISN’T A FINAL GOODBYE. MY WORK WITHIN NIGERIAN COMMUNITIES CONTINUES, JUST AS MY LOVE AND PASSION FOR THIS TEAM WILL NEVER FADE.
THE LAST DECADE HAS BEEN FILLED WITH COMMITMENT, PRIDE, AND UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES.
WEARING THE SUPER EAGLES SHIRT HAS BEEN MORE THAN PLAYING FOOTBALL. IT HAS BEEN A DUTY, A PRIVILEGE, AND AN HONOUR.
WILLIAM TROOST-EKONG (M.O.N)
