Victor Osimhen

Olusosun

Victor James Osimhen was born in Lagos on 29 December 1998, the youngest of seven children. His father is from Esan, Edo State, his mother from Delta State. His mother died when he was young, and he grew up in Olusosun, beside Lagos’s biggest landfill, selling sachet water and newspapers in traffic and searching the dump for boots. He joined the Ultimate Strikers Academy at about 15.

Ten goals in Chile

At the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, under coach Emmanuel Amunike, Osimhen scored a record 10 goals as the Golden Eaglets won the title.

Club career

The mask

In November 2021 he fractured his skull and eye socket. He returned wearing a protective mask, which became his trademark. In 2022-23 he led Napoli to their first league title in 33 years.

For Nigeria

Osimhen had 35 goals for the Super Eagles by early 2026, second only to Rashidi Yekini’s 37. He scored four goals at AFCON 2025, where Nigeria won bronze. In December 2023 he was named African Footballer of the Year, the first Nigerian since Kanu in 1999, and he finished eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or, the best by a Nigerian.