Victor Osimhen’s first half brace against Rwanda on Friday revived the Super Eagles’ hope of participating in the 2026 World Cup. It was indeed a crucial win over Rwanda in their quest for a place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Napoli striker, who is currently on loan at Galatasaray, netted the two goals to breathe life into Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying campaign, which was hanging on the balance.
Nigeria entered the encounter with immense pressure, having picked up only three points from their opening four matches of three draws and a loss.
But the Super Eagles delivered a composed first-half performance to silence the home crowd at the Amahoro Stadium.
Osimhen opened the scoring in the 25th minute from a well-delivered free kick by Atalanta forward, Ademola Lookman,which found him unmarked at the far post, and the forward made no mistake, tapping home to hand Nigeria a deserved lead.
Moments later, Moses Simon came close to doubling the tally, but his powerful effort was superbly kept out by Rwanda’s goalkeeper, Fiacre Ntwari.
Nigeria remained in control, and their dominance paid off again in the 40th minute. A delightful pass from AC Milan star Samuel Chukwueze found Osimhen, who showed incredible composure to chip the ball past Ntwari for his second of the game – and his 25th international goal for the Super Eagles.
That goal sees the 26-year-old move ahead of Segun Odegbami on Nigeria’s all-time top scorers list, with only Rashidi Yekini (37 goals) now ahead of him.
Despite a goalless second half, Nigeria maintained their grip on the game and saw out the win comfortably.
The 2013 AFCON Champions now have six points in the Group C standings.
