Osimhen on the Brink of Erasing Rashidi Yekini’s Goals Record 

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Super Eagles top marksman, Victor Osimhen, is on the verge of equaling Nigeria’s revered ‘goalsfather’ Rashidi Yekini in the number of goals scored for the senior national team.

Should the Galatasaray frontman able to score two goals against hosts Morocco in the semifinal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations inside the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Wednesday, Osimhen will be at par with the late striker fondly called “Goals-father” by the Nigerian sporting press.

Yekini netted 37 goals in his 58 matches for Super Eagles before hanging his boot. He passed away in controversial circumstances aged 48 years on May 4, 2012. Yekini who was named African Footballer of the Year in 1993, scored  Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in 1994. Earlier same year, Yekini was part of the ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 AFCON in Tunisia and emerged as the top scorer with five goals.

But Osimhen at just 27 years and 51 caps for the Super Eagles, is just two goals away from equalling Yekini’s feat in 58 matches for Nigeria. Should the Galatasaray striker fires a hat trick against Morocco, in the game already dubbed ‘Final Before the Final’, Osimhen would have succeeded in becoming Nigeria’s new ‘Goal King’.

Osimhen announced his arrival on the scene at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Chile in 2015 under the watch of Emmanuel Amuneke. He emerged the top scorer with 10 goals and the second most valuable player of the U17 World Cup tournament that Nigeria won that year.

History beckons on the former SSC Napoli forward on Wednesday night, as the 90 minutes battle, for which he will have Alex Iwobi, Akor Adams and Ademola Lookman providing valuable support, offer him the opportunity to equal the great man’s tally.

Iwobi, who has been extraordinary at this AFCON, is set to win his 96th cap for country, taking him closer to the century-mark of former captain Joseph Yobo, and former goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who garnered 101. Ahmed Musa remains the man-with-the-record at 111 caps.

Meanwhile, Super Eagles will have their official training on the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat  today at 6.15pm.