{"id":881453,"date":"2025-12-29T01:22:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/29\/victor-osimhen-eyes-afcon-glory-after-nigerias-world-cup-disappointment\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T01:22:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:22:43","slug":"victor-osimhen-eyes-afcon-glory-after-nigerias-world-cup-disappointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/29\/victor-osimhen-eyes-afcon-glory-after-nigerias-world-cup-disappointment\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Osimhen eyes AFCON glory after Nigeria\u2019s World Cup disappointment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div role=\"main\" id=\"content\">\n<article id=\"the-post\">\n<div>\n<figure><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" width=\"240\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Victor-Osimhen.jpg\" alt=\"Victor Osimhen\" data-main-img=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"><figcaption>\n Victor Osimhen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles, led by Victor Osimhen, are looking to bounce back after failing to qualify for the World Cup for the second consecutive time. The quickest route to redemption, according to the star striker, is winning the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1990, Nigeria had never failed twice in a row to reach the World Cup \u2014 until this year. After finishing as runners-up to South Africa in Group C, the Super Eagles earned a second chance as one of the best four second-placed teams. They demolished Gabon 4-1 in a playoff semifinal, with Osimhen scoring twice, only to lose to the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties.<\/p>\n<p>Ivory Coast-born head coach Eric Chelle said, \u201cOur players are suffering and we must find a cure. Instead of hurting, we must hurt our opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Osimhen, who plays in Turkey, added, \u201cNigerians keep telling us we are a golden generation. But we have now failed twice in succession to qualify for the World Cup. If we are that good, how come we keep failing? Now we have to return to Morocco and win the Cup of Nations. Our squad is packed with great Nigerians playing for some of the best clubs in Europe. The time has come to translate that greatness into trophies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria has been drawn in Group C alongside Tunisia, Tanzania, and Uganda. As top seeds, the Super Eagles will play all their first-round matches in the northern city of Fes. Their December 27 clash against Tunisia is expected to decide the group leader.<\/p>\n<p>-BBC<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd17 Follow Ghanaian Times WhatsApp Channel today. <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q<\/a><br \/>\ud83c\udf0d Trusted News. Real Stories. Anytime, Anywhere.<br \/>\u2705 Join our WhatsApp Channel now! <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q\">https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q<\/a><\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GTimeslogo-1-683x1024.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GTimeslogo-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GTimeslogo-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GTimeslogo-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GTimeslogo-1.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"read-next-block\">\n<h2>Read Next<\/h2>\n<div id=\"tie-read-next\">\n<ul><\/ul>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A tough AFCON awaits \u2013 Broos<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Liverpool fear Isak has broken leg<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Guardiola tells Man City players to go easy on Christmas dinner<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Glasner critical of EFL\u2019s Conference League stance<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Fernandes injury woes for Man Utd<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Morocco beat Comoros in AFCON 2025 opener<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Zambia strike late to hold Mali in AFCON opener<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Nigeria face tough test from Taifa Stars<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 23, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>PSG women hit with nine-point sanction<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>December 22, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Morocco 2025 AFCON Winner to Pocket US$10 Million<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Admin1<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/victor-osimhen-eyes-afcon-glory-after-nigerias-world-cup-disappointment\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victor Osimhen Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles, led by Victor Osimhen, are looking to bounce back after failing to qualify for the World Cup for the second consecutive time. The quickest route to redemption, according to the star striker, is winning the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco. Since 1990, Nigeria had never failed twice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":881454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96184,29917],"tags":[96183,7669],"class_list":{"0":"post-881453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-osimhen","8":"category-victor","9":"tag-osimhen","10":"tag-victor"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}