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Colin UdohJan 13, 2026, 02:39 AM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Itinerant writer. Engineer in a previous incarnation. One time Black Belt. Lover of football, flirter with other sports.<\/p>\n Victor Osimhen<\/a> moved within two goals of Nigeria<\/a>‘s all-time scoring record after his goal and assist powered the Super Eagles to a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Algeria<\/a> on Sunday, but the Galatasaray<\/a> striker insists team success trumps individual glory.<\/p>\n Osimhen was named man of the match after a stirring, selfless performance in what will go down as one of the most one-sided Africa Cup of Nations<\/a> quarterfinals in tournament history.<\/p>\n The forward now has 35 international goals in 46 appearances, closing in on the late Rashidi Yekini’s record of 37 goals set over 62 matches.<\/p>\n Breaking the record would establish the 27-year-old forward as an undisputed legend of Nigerian football, but he deflected attention from the approaching milestone, saying it is not a priority for him whenever he steps on the pitch for Nigeria.<\/p>\n “It doesn’t matter if I equal the record or I surpass it, the late Rashidi Yekini is the best striker the Super Eagles have ever produced,” Osimhen said.<\/p>\n “It doesn’t take anything away from Yekini as the greatest striker the country has ever produced. I am just trying to do my best. I just want to win something important for my country and with the help of my teammates, I am on that path.”<\/p>\n Osimhen also credited former teammate Odion Ighalo<\/a> as an inspiration. The two briefly played together and Osimhen’s AFCON debut came in 2019, when he replaced Ighalo in Nigeria’s 1-0 third-place victory.<\/p>\n The Galatasaray forward said that being part of the rich history of the Super Eagles is motivation enough: “I have the likes of Odion Ighalo that have inspired me also to try to do my best for the team, for the Super Eagles.<\/p>\n “It is amazing to be part of the story of the Super Eagles.”<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Osimhen currently sits second on the AFCON top scorers chart, tied with Egypt<\/a>‘s Mohammed Salah<\/a>, and one behind Morocco<\/a>‘s Brahim D\u00edaz<\/a>.<\/p>\n He is recognized as one of the deadliest forwards, not just in Africa but in world football, and his performance against Algeria provided ample proof to any doubters.<\/p>\n A performance that, coupled with his displays so far in Morocco show the improvements in his game from the last tournament, where he finished with just one goal.<\/p>\n The forward admits that he is continuously improving: “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.<\/p>\n “From the last AFCON to this one, I think I have upgraded a lot, as a player and as a man.”<\/p>\n According to him, that growth has led to more confidence and more selflessness with the ultimate objective being to hoist silverware.<\/p>\n “Now I have so much confidence in the way I play with the help of my teammates and for me it’s not about the goals or the assists,” he said.<\/p>\n “It is about winning something with this squad and we are on the right path. It is not going to be easy but the big confidence is there and I am just trying to do my bit for the team.”<\/p>\n Nigeria next play hosts Morocco in the semifinals on January 14 in Rabat, seeking a place in the Final where they can challenge for a fourth AFCON title overall and their first since 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colin UdohJan 13, 2026, 02:39 AM ET CloseItinerant writer. Engineer in a previous incarnation. One time Black Belt.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[122],"class_list":{"0":"post-20391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigeria","8":"tag-nigeria"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Victor Osimhen is only a couple of goals away from breaking Nigeria’s all-time goalscoring record.\u00a0Ulrik Pedersen\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n