Aiyegbeni reveals why Osimhen injury dashed Nigeria’s World Cup hopes

According to former Everton and Portsmouth striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Nigeria always struggle playing whenever they don’t have Victor Osimhen in the line-up.

Aiyegbeni has said the over reliance of Osimhen cost Nigeria a place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Super Eagles missed out on automatic qualification but managed to reach the playoffs alongside Gabon, Cameroon and DR Congo.

Nigeria kicked out Gabon but lost to DR Congo in the decisive match last Sunday, missing out on two consecutive World Cup appearances. The three-time AFCON winners lost to DR Congo on penalties after playing out a 1-1 draw after extra-time.

During the game against the Leopards, Osimhen. Who had scored a hat-trick to help Nigeria secure a play-off spot, was substituted at the start of the second half owing to an injury.

“When you see the lineup, it was a red flag because we only have one striker in that team for Nigeria,” the 42-year-old said on the Home Turf podcast as quoted by soccernet.

“We have like four other strikers, but only one delivers. Only one plays like a madman on the pitch. He’s aggressive and livid when things go wrong.

‘I knew the game was finished when Osimhen went off’

“We only have Osimhen. I think the rest are just happy to be in the national team. Back in my days, we had Julius Aghahowa, Obafemi Martins, Victor Agali. Everyone wanted to play.

“If I were on the bench, I was vexed, but these players, if they don’t play, they’ve accepted Victor is the deserving starter. Don’t get me wrong, Victor is number one, one of the best in the World, but the other strikers we have are not ready to play.”

He added: “When they come in, they have no impact, so when Osimhen doesn’t play, we go nowhere. I had issues with Austin Eguavoen back then because I wasn’t playing because he felt he was doing me a favour by inviting me to the national team.

“The moment Osimhen went out against DR Congo, I knew the game was finished, because in the second half, Congo were much better in the second half and in extra time. They passed the ball better than we did.

“We, on the other hand, were tactless. No game plan. The boys were just doing what they thought was right.”

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will now turn attention to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted in Morocco between December 2025 and January 2026.