Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen celebrating for Nigeria at AFCON 2025
Rashidi Yekini’s name is sacred in Nigerian football history. Decades after his iconic roar at the 1994 World Cup and his relentless goal-scoring exploits in green and white, two modern Super Eagles stars are now closing in on records long thought untouchable.
At AFCON 2025, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen are not just chasing trophies — they are chasing history.
Victor Osimhen’s brace against Mozambique was more than just another dominant performance. It pushed him to within three goals of Rashidi Yekini’s all-time Super Eagles scoring record of 37 goals.
For context, Yekini’s record has stood for decades, surviving generations of strikers. Osimhen, despite injury setbacks and limited tournament opportunities early in his international career, is now firmly on course to eclipse the legendary Julius Berger striker.
At his current AFCON 2025 scoring rate, Osimhen could realistically match — or even break — the record before the tournament ends.
While Osimhen chases overall numbers, Ademola Lookman is quietly threatening one of Yekini’s most impressive AFCON-specific records.
Yekini scored 13 AFCON goals, with five of them coming in knockout matches (excluding third-place playoffs). That record has stood as a benchmark for big-game performance.
Lookman, in just his second AFCON tournament, already has:
Six AFCON goals
Four knockout-stage goals
That means he is:
One goal away from matching Yekini’s AFCON knockout record
Two goals away from surpassing it
Remarkably, Lookman has scored in every knockout game he has played at AFCON so far — including a brace against Cameroon and a goal against Angola in the last edition.
With Nigeria set to face the winner of Algeria vs DR Congo in the quarterfinals, history could be rewritten in the very next match.
What makes this moment special is how different both pursuits are:
Osimhen represents inevitability — power, volume, and relentless scoring over time.
Lookman represents big-game efficiency — delivering when the stakes are highest.
While Osimhen has downplayed individual milestones, needing just three more goals to match Yekini’s legendary tally, Lookman is already on the brink of becoming Nigeria’s most prolific AFCON knockout scorer ever.
Records are meant to be broken, but legends are meant to be respected. Yekini’s shadow still looms large over Nigerian football, yet AFCON 2025 is proving that a new generation is ready to carve its own legacy.
Whether it is Osimhen’s goals or Lookman’s clutch performances, one thing is clear:
Nigeria is witnessing a historic passing of the torch — in real time.
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