Another chance goes begging for Victor Osimhen at AFCON: Will self-destructive Nigeria & Galatasaray striker ever achieve his full potential?

Nigeria have endured nothing but misery since their group-stage exit at the 2018 World Cup. They failed to reach the final at both the 2019 and 2021 AFCON before missing out on qualification for the 2022 World Cup, losing on away goals to Ghana in the CAF play-offs.

Many predicted a redemption arc at the 2023 AFCON in the Ivory Coast (which were pushed back to January 2024 due to weather concerns), with Osimhen at the height of his powers, but he was unable to live up to expectations. Nigeria reached the final, but Osimhen only scored once from 24 shots across the tournament, and was especially ineffective in his team's 2-1 defeat to the hosts in the showpiece event.

The Super Eagles would go on to make a complete mess of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, picking up only three points from their first four fixtures as they were held to draws by Lesotho and Zimbabwe before losing to Benin. Results improved after Eric Chelle's arrival as manager in January 2025, but Nigeria had left themselves with too much of a mountain to climb, and ended up finishing second in their group behind South Africa, which was only enough to make the play-offs.

A 4-1 semi-final win after extra-time against Gabon briefly lifted the mood, until massive underdogs DR Congo sent Chelle's side packing in the final on penalties. It was a disaster for Nigeria to not even reach the final intercontinental qualifier, which will be played in March, especially after FIFA had extended the number of participating World Cup teams from 32 to 48.

In fairness to Osimhen, he did everything within his power in football terms to drag his country to North America. The Galatasaray forward scored eight goals in seven qualifying appearances, including a brace against Gabon. Had he not missed the home and away draws against South Africa and the defeat to Benin due to injuries, or limped off at half-time against DR Congo, things might well have panned out differently for Nigeria.

However, he was also at the centre of a sideshow that served as an untimely distraction from the team's efforts. After the surprise loss against Benin, a host of local media outlets suggested that then-Nigeria manager Finidi George had claimed that Osimhen could have made himself available to play. 

Osimhen did not take kindly to those reports, saying in a furious rant on Instagram: "Everybody knows I play my heart out whether it is [for my] club side or national team. I won't allow anybody to disrespect me. I won't allow that nonsense. I won't allow anyone to stain my name. I don't care if what Finidi said is true or false. But I'll share the video, picture, and screenshot of my conversation with Finidi on my [Instagram] story because some of you believe I would allow disrespect because I play football.

"I've lost respect for that man now. I spoke with him [Finidi] requesting that I join the Super Eagles camp to be with my team-mates, vut he told me not to bother and that I should stay with my family - I have a video of the conversation."

Hours after that bombshell, it was reported that George had stepped down, albeit it was later revealed that the decision was due to the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) planning to appoint a foreign technical adviser to work alongside him without speaking to him first.

Osimhen was the one being disrespectful, not George. He should have kept any grievances in-house and refrained from reacting to social media noise without having all the facts.

"It’s quite unfortunate that he came up live and said those things," George said to the Nigeria Info radio station. "I sent him a message. From that point, I didn’t hear from him; he didn’t apologise."

It was an ugly episode that raised serious questions over Osimhen's discipline, and went some way to explaining why Chelle opted to overlook him for Ndidi when naming Nigeria's new captain after William Troost-Ekong retired from international football in December. That all being said, Osimhen did at least accept a share of responsibility for the national team's latest qualification debacle, issuing a passionate rally cry ahead of the 2025 AFCON.

"This AFCON is an opportunity for us to try to right our wrongs, to try to make the Super Eagles fans all over the world believe that there is so much more that we can give," he said. "We’re so sorry, we have to use the opportunity to say we’re so sorry for not getting the World Cup ticket. Now we are going to war."

That passion was evident in Nigeria's three group-stage wins over Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda, and their 4-0 rout of Mozambique in the last-16, as Osimhen racked up four-goal contributions. But his efforts in the final third were overshadowed when he went to 'war' with one of his team-mates. With the Super Eagles 3-0 up and Osimhen chasing a hat-trick heading into the final 30 minutes against Mozambique, he squared up to Lookman, seemingly accusing the Atalanta star of purposely not passing to him. 

Indeed, Lookman wasted two good openings by going for glory himself instead of looking for Osimhen, but he had also set up his first goal. Osimhen's reaction was completely over the top, and it didn't end after their on-pitch altercation; he asked to be substituted in the 68th minute, and was seen storming down the tunnel after the full-time whistle.

Osimhen's actions drew plenty of criticism, including from Nigeria and Chelsea legend Jon Obi Mikel. He took no issue with Osimhen's anger towards Lookman, saying, "you have to show you want to fight on the pitch", but was concerned by his compatriot's attitude after the incident.

"What I didn't like about the situation was the afters. He stopped playing, he stopped putting the effort, he stopped running," Mikel said on his Obi One Podcast. "He will look back and say maybe I've crossed the line. The part where he walked straight into the dressing room. It's always about the team, it's always about the country. Nobody is bigger than a club or country. Jay-Jay [Okocha], [Nwankwo] Kanu, me, we all came and left, the national team is still there."

Those Nigeria heroes will remain above Osimhen in the eyes of supporters if he doesn't learn to control his emotions, though it would help to have a coaching team that is prepared to call him out. Chelle missed that opportunity, telling reporters when quizzed on how he would deal with Osimhen: "What happened will stay in the group."

The NFF also came out to deny reports that Osimhen had quit the camp, and Lookman jumped to his defence. "The team won 4-0. Vic is our number one guy. Everybody knows this," he told reporters. "He is a top striker and a top player. All the rest of that is not important."

Osimhen did not face any consequences for his outburst, and it was soon completely forgotten. He retained his place in Chelle's starting line up for the quarter-final against Algeria, and headed in the opening goal before setting up Akor Adams to round off a comfortable 2-0 victory. 

Osimhen's strike against Algeria brought him to within just two goals of the all-time Nigeria scoring record held by the late Rashidi Yekini (37).

"It doesn't matter if I equal the record or I surpass it. It doesn't take anything away from Yekini as the greatest striker the country has ever produced," Osimhen said of potentially making history before the end of the tournament. "I am just trying to do my best. I just want to win something important for my country and with the help of my team-mates, I am on that path."

He added on his improved form on the AFCON stage: "As a player, as a man, I have evolved a lot because I have always gone back to see the mistakes I made while in my spare time and try to see how I can improve myself. I think I have upgraded a lot, as a player and as a man. Now I have so much confidence in the way I play with the help of my team-mates, and for me it's not about the goals or the assists, it's about winning something with this squad."

It was difficult to take any of those remarks too seriously given Osimhen's conduct in the Mozambique game, but another stellar display in the semi-final against Morocco would have put him on the brink of legendary status. Alas, he went missing when his country needed him most.

Morocco deservedly beat Nigeria on penalties after they played out a 0-0 draw across 120 minutes. The Super Eagles were lucky to stay in the game for so long, as they mustered only two shots compared to Morocco's 15, and Osimhen was dreadful. He only touched the ball 27 times, lost it on 11 occasions, won just one of his seven ground duels, and never came even close to troubling Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Eyebrows were raised when Chelle took Osimhen off for Paul Onuachu just two minutes before the end of extra-time, but the manager later explained Nigeria's frontman had suffered a "small" ankle injury. That does not excuse him, though. 

Osimhen will no doubt go on and break Yekini's record, perhaps even when Nigeria face Egypt in Saturday's third-place play-off, but it's silverware that will define his legacy. There will be more chances at AFCON, but he is one of 11 current players who will be over 30 when the 2030 World Cup rolls around, if they even qualify.

This is an ageing squad that may have passed its peak already, and the same could also be true of Osimhen from an individual perspective. Despite his pleas to the contrary, he is not a better player now than he was at the last AFCON, nor is he more mature.

As we've seen over the last two weeks, Osimhen has the capacity to hit the self-destruct button at any moment. The 27-year-old still hasn't learned how to lead by example, which will probably continue to cost Nigeria, and prevent him from regaining world-class recognition on the club scene. 

Osimhen was linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool during the summer, but according to The Athletic, some Premier League clubs decided not to move for the striker, "because of doubts about his character". They may have been fuelled by ex-Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho, who said, "I don't like the way he behaves", and accused Osimhen of "diving too much", based on his past experience of playing against Napoli while in charge of Roma.

There was another blot against Osimhen towards the end of the window, when he was seen snapping at Galatasaray team-mate Yunus Akgün for not passing to him in a Super Lig clash with Kayserispor. He's a volatile player who too often lets his temper get the best of him.

He was by no means the only one to blame for the way things ended at Napoli, having fallen victim to a vile piece of racism from the club's social account that triggered the initial fracture, but he also made headlines for lashing out at former manager Rudi Garcia for substituting him. In July 2024, former Nigeria international Taiwo Oloyede even went as far as to say that Osimhen "was not brought up well" in an interview with Sportsboom before asserting, "he also lacks good advisors to put him on track".

Osimhen's fitness record has long been a concern, too; he has played with a protective mask since fracturing his skull and cheekbone in a clash with Inter back in 2021, and has been very susceptible to muscle injuries. As such, only Saudi outfit Al-Hilal and Galatasaray were willing to both match his wage demands and meet Napoli's €75 million (£65m/$87m) asking price, and he opted for the latter.

That was a smart call that indicates Osimhen is still ambitious. If he keeps up his prolific form for Galatasaray, both in the Super Lig and Champions League, he will continue to be an attractive proposition. But the 2023 African Footballer of the Year must cut out the petulance to get another shot at the big time, and finally cement a place in Nigeria's Hall of Fame.