Victor Osimhen of Nigeria reacts argues with referee during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations AFCON 3rd place playoff match between Egypt and Nigeria at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco on 17 January 2026 ©Nour Aknajja/BackpagePix
Thursday Jan 22, 2026. 15:00
Ex-Nigeria captain Sunday Oliseh believes that Victor Osimhen played a major role in the Super Eagles not going all the way at the recent 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Osimhen was seen having a go at teammate Ademola Lookman during their 4-0 win over Mozambique in the Round of 16, as it was believed that the striker was unhappy at Lookman not passing him the ball during a certain period of the match.
While the incident grabbed headlines in AFCON media during and after the match, Nigeria suffered a 4-2 loss on penalties against Morocco in the semi-finals before jotting down a 4-2 win on spotkicks in the match for third place against Egypt thereafter.
According to Oliseh, Osimhen’s outburst disturbed the equilibrium of the squad for the remainder of the showpiece.
“Let’s look at the toxicity that might have caused us (Nigeria) the AFCON title,” Oliseh said on his YouTube channel, as per SoccernetNG.
“We are confusing talent with license. Victor Osimhen is world class but talent is not license to destroy team chemistry.
“Look at the evidence. Since that public outburst against Ademola Lookman, one of our brightest lights, Lookman became a shadow of himself and we lost the bite.
“When you publicly diminish your teammates, you break their spirit. You destroy the very confidence a team needs to survive a semifinal. Against a team as tactically sharp as Morocco, we needed our best players at a hundred percent.”