Nigeria Vs Morocco: Osimhen Chasing Yekini’s Record, Iwobi Nears Century of Caps

Victor Osimhen heads into Nigeria’s semifinal clash with Morocco at AFCON 2025 with history within reach.

Two goals would put the Galatasaray striker level with Rashidi Yekini, Nigeria’s all-time leading scorer, who netted 37 times in 58 appearances.

Osimhen currently has 35 goals in 51 matches and, at just 27, is widely expected to surpass Yekini’s mark.

Osimhen first announced himself on the global stage in 2015, finishing as top scorer at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Chile, where Nigeria lifted the trophy.

A decade later, he is leading the Super Eagles’ attack, supported by Alex Iwobi, Akor Adams and Ademola Lookman.

The forward is also chasing another milestone: becoming the Nigerian with the most goals in a single AFCON tournament. He is one goal away from equaling Yekini’s five in 1994 and Odion Ighalo’s five in 2019.

Osimhen has already scored three knockout goals at this edition, joining Yekini (1994), Jay-Jay Okocha (2004), Ighalo (2019) and Lookman (2024) as the only Nigerians to do so.

Only Ighalo has managed four knockout goals, all in 2019, when he struck twice against Cameroon in the round of 16, once against Algeria in the semifinals, and once against Tunisia in the third-place match.

Osimhen’s four goals so far are the most by a Nigerian at AFCON since Ighalo’s tally seven years ago.

Meanwhile, Alex Iwobi is closing in on his own milestone. His 96th cap against Morocco will move him closer to the century mark reached by Joseph Yobo and Vincent Enyeama.

Ahmed Musa remains Nigeria’s most capped player with 111 appearances. The Fulham midfielder is also set to become Nigeria’s most capped midfielder at AFCON, having equaled the 22 appearances of John Obi Mikel and Jay-Jay Okocha.

His 23rd appearance against Morocco will put him ahead of both.