Victor Osimhen has revealed how he shook off a shocking late miss to score twice in extra time and inspire Nigeria to a dramatic 4–1 victory over Gabon in their CAF World Cup play-off semi-final in Rabat.
The Super Eagles kept their 2026 World Cup dream alive with a dominant extra-time display at the Moulay Hassan Stadium on Thursday night, but the scoreline did not fully reflect the drama that unfolded.
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Nigeria appeared to have escaped early second-half trouble when Gabon were controversially denied a penalty after a lengthy VAR check for a shirt pull by Bright Osayi-Samuel on Aaron Appindangoye.
The reprieve seemed to spark the Eagles into life.
With 12 minutes of normal time left, Sevilla forward Akor Adams pounced on a defensive error by Appindangoye to put Nigeria 1–0 up. However, Gabon hit back late on as Mario Lemina’s effort deflected off a defender and beat Stanley Nwabali to force extra time.
Osimhen then missed two big chances to win it in stoppage time, including a stunning one-on-one miss in the 12th minute of added time after being sent clear on goal by a swift counter-attack.
“I was gutted,” Osimhen admitted afterwards. “It was bad. After I missed the opportunity, I saw the referee said we were going into extra time. I told my team-mates: I’m sorry guys, I will correct it in extra time.”
True to his word, the Napoli striker responded in ruthless fashion once the game went beyond 90 minutes.
Chidera Ejuke restored Nigeria’s lead early in extra time, finishing calmly to make it 2–1. With Gabon chasing the game, spaces opened up and Osimhen took full advantage, netting a stylish brace with two composed finishes to stretch the scoreline to 4–1.
His second goal celebration earned him a yellow card for removing his shirt, but by then the job was done and Nigeria’s passage to Sunday’s play-off final was secure.
Osimhen said staying mentally strong after the miss was crucial to his turnaround.
“As a person and as a striker, I had to keep it moving,” he explained. “If I let it get into my head, I don’t think I would have been able to grab those two goals. I’m human, I make mistakes, which is normal. For me, I just had to keep it moving and congratulations also to the team for this performance.”
The match was also marred by lasers from the stands being pointed at players, including Osimhen, but he insisted he refused to be distracted.
“I actually saw the person pointing the laser at me,” he said. “But the person was in the stand, I couldn’t go there. For me it’s normal, they know the kind of quality we possess so they’re trying to use the lasers to distract so many of us. I just keep it moving, I don’t even think about it.”
Nigeria will now face DR Congo in the play-off final, with a place in the inter-confederation play-offs in Mexico in March at stake — and Osimhen’s resilience and firepower will again be central to their hopes.
