Star striker Osimhen leads Nigeria on bumpy path into World Cup qualifying playoffs

Star striker Victor Osimhen risks being among the best players of his generation never to play at the World Cup if Nigeria fails to advance toward the 2026 tournament from the African qualifying playoffs that start Thursday.

Osimhen’s absence due to injuries for much of Nigeria’s 10-game qualifying group over the past two years is a big reason why the Super Eagles find themselves in a four-team playoffs bracket in Morocco. Nigeria first faces Gabon.

The winner that emerges Sunday from a playoff final against either Cameroon or Congo still has more work to do — at the six-team intercontinental playoffs in March — likely in Mexico.

At age 26, and the leading scorer in the Champions League this season with Galatasaray, Osimhen is playing close to his peak with skill, pace and power like his idol Didier Drogba. All while wearing a mask to protect metal plates inserted for a serious facial injury four years ago.

The kid who once left soccer to live and work at a church, then was a breakout star at the Under-17 World Cup, carries Nigerian fans’ hopes after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Bumpy road to playoffs

Nigeria has not had a smooth ride toward the playoffs — nor on site in Rabat, where players refused to practice Tuesday in a dispute over unpaid bonuses.

Nigeria had been top-seeded in a six-team qualifying group but, with Osimhen injured in November 2023 and June 2024, failed to win any of its first four games.

With Osimhen’s six goals in five unbeaten games, Nigeria placed second last month behind group winner South Africa, which advanced to the World Cup.

Nigeria is favored in the playoff semifinal against Gabon, which has its own talismanic striker in 36-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. At least, before the disrupted preparation.

“All we want and continue to do is focus on the big games ahead,” Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong wrote in a social media post. Troost-Ekong later posted that the financial issue was resolved Wednesday.

Osimhen’s World Cup history

The 2015 Under-17 Cup in Chile is where he came to global attention in Nigeria’s title-winning team.

Osimhen scored in each of Nigeria’s seven games, getting his tournament-best 10th goal to open the scoring in the final — a 2-0 victory over Mali.

He made his national-team debut at age 18 but was not taken to the 2018 World Cup in Russia after a goalless season with German club Wolfsburg.

Osimhen was starring with Napoli when Nigeria failed at the last stage of qualifying for the next World Cup — in Qatar. Ghana won a two-leg playoff that ended 1-1 on the away goals rule.

Path to success

“I came from a very poor background,” Osimhen said in a recent interview with UEFA. “I’m the last born of seven. I lost my mum at a very young age, and my father passed on in 2020.”

When he was young “I had to try to live for myself, to try to help my siblings also in raising money at that time.”

He later stopped playing soccer because “nothing was really coming out of it. I needed to support my family because they were doing the most for me,” Osimhen told Nigerian broadcaster Daddy Freeze this year.

“After I finished secondary school I wasn’t playing football for almost two years,” he said, recounting how he worked helping sign members for the church of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. “I was staying in the church for almost five months.”

When Osimhen resumed playing, his talent was seen and nurtured by Nigeria Under-17 coach Emmanuel Amunike, who starred in the beloved 1994 World Cup team.

Osimhen, a Serie A winner at Napoli and the African player of the year in 2023, could similarly shine on the world stage in 2026.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer