AFCON 2025: Another opportunity lost for Osimhen, others

By : Gowon Akpodonor

Date: 17 January 2026 4:17am WAT

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Nigeria's forward Victor Osimhen looks on prior the Africa Cup of Nations Group C football match between Nigeria and Tanzania at Fez Stadium in Fes on December 23, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)

Nigeria's forward Victor Osimhen looks on prior the Africa Cup of Nations Group C football match between Nigeria and Tanzania at Fez Stadium in Fes on December 23, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)

In 2019, Victor Osimhen made his debut in the Africa Nations Cup in Egypt, featuring for just 45 minutes in the third-place match against Tunisia, which the Super Eagles won 1-0 in Cairo.

While his teammates, technical crew and other officials were busy celebrating the ‘golden bronze’ at the Le Meridian Cairo Airport hotel, Osimhen, who was then playing for Sporting Charleroi in the Belgian Jupiler, made a declaration that Egypt 2019 AFCON was a major learning process for him and some other young players.

“I am delighted to have gained some valuable senior tournament experience in this competition,” he told The Guardian. “Everyone, particularly myself, is still in the process of learning. It is on record I played my first AFCON here in Egypt 2019. This is the biggest stage in African football and it is a massive achievement for me,” he stated.

To Osimhen, Egypt 2019 AFCON was a stepping-stone for his generation. “We own this space, and in the future we are going to dominate the African Nations Cup. So the experiences I gathered here in Egypt will surely help me,” he stated.

True to his declaration, Osimhen has taken his football to a higher level since Egypt 2019, emerging Africa Footballer of the Year in 2023 and moving from one top European club to another.

But Osimhen is still a sad man, following his inability to realise his greatest dream of ‘dominating the space’ which is winning the AFCON title.

Two years after Egypt 2019, Osimhen was left out of the Super Eagles squad, which competed at Cameroon 2021 AFCON following a positive COVID-19 test. Beside, Osimhen was still recovering from facial fractures, which he sustained playing for Napoli in November 2020. That team led by Coach Augustine Eguavoen eventually returned home with the worst record after crashing out of the tournament in the round of 16.

And two years ago in Cote d’Ivoire, Osimhen and ‘the gang’ came close to winning the AFCON title, but lost it to the host nation. In Morocco, everything about the Super Eagles were tied around Osimhen. From the street of Fes to Casablanca, Marrakech and Rabat, Osimhen’s name rang a bell.

For a majority of Moroccan fans, Osimhen came first in players ranking than their own son, Achraf Hakimi, despite being the current Africa Footballer of the Year.

From the Group stage to Round of 16 matches in the city of Fes, the shout of Osimhen, Osimhen usually echoed around the stadium whenever goals were not forthcoming from the Super Eagles. Osimhen delivered four and made some assists.

But all that will longer count, as the Super Eagles failed to break a jinx in the tournament on Wednesday night, where they have just two shots in the entire match with only one on target against Morocco.

The Super Eagles have never defeated a host nation in an AFCON knockout match (excluding third-place playoffs), and many Nigerians were hoping to see an end to the jinx in Rabat.

At Algiers ’90, the Super Eagles lost 1-0 to Algeria in the final, and at Tunisia 2004, Nigeria’s encounter with the host, Tunisia ended 1–1 in the semifinal, but Tunisia won 5–3 on penalties.

At Ghana 2008, the Super Eagles lost 1-2 to the host, Ghana in the quarter-final, and at the last AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, the Super Eagles lost 1-2 to the host in the final.

Apart from failing to break the jinx against host nation in a knock out stage, the Super Eagles’ running penalty shootout woes resurfaced on Wednesday night in Rabat as Morocco won 4–2 in the penalty shootout after a goalless 120 minutes.

The defeat echoed Nigeria’s heartbreak in Morocco last November, when the Super Eagles crashed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoff on penalties to DR Congo. Apart from shutting the door of a fourth continental title for Nigeria, the defeat in Rabat means Osimhen’s dream of adding an AFCON title to his silverwares is delayed.

Apart from the long wait for an AFCON title, Osimhen and some players in the current Super Eagles squad will have to pray hard for Nigeria’s petition against DR Congo to see the light of day for them to witness the FIFA World Cup party in their career.

They missed the opportunity at Qatar 2022 and missing the 2026 edition means a lot, as some of them might not be in the squad when Morocco co-host the 2030 World Cup due to age, which could lead to drop in their performance.

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