Osimhen’s best scoring run for Nigeria: How Super Eagles star compares with Haaland & Ronaldo

Victor Osimhen, widely regarded as Africa’s deadliest striker at the moment, continues to score goals for both club and country at an impressive rate, Afrik-Foot reports.

While the Nigerian forward has enjoyed several memorable scoring runs in Europe, his best official goalscoring streak with the Super Eagles stands at three consecutive international matches.

The Galatasaray striker has achieved that feat twice during his senior career, showing his consistency in Nigeria’s biggest qualification campaigns.

Osimhen’s first three-match scoring streak came shortly after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, when he became Nigeria’s first-choice striker.

His run began on September 10, 2019, when he scored in Nigeria’s 2-2 international friendly draw against Ukraine. He followed that with another goal in a 2-1 victory over Benin on November 13, during the 2021 AFCON qualifiers before completing the streak four days later by finding the net in Nigeria’s 4-2 away win against Lesotho in another qualifier.

Two years later, Osimhen repeated exactly the same achievement during Nigeria’s qualification campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

He scored in Nigeria’s 2-0 away victory over the Central African Republic on October 10, 2021, before adding another goal in the 2-0 win over Liberia on November 13. He completed his second three-game scoring streak by finding the net against Cape Verde in a 1-1 draw on November 16, helping the Super Eagles finish top of their qualifying group.

Although Osimhen later finished as the top scorer in the 2023 AFCON qualifying series with 10 goals, including a stunning four-goal performance against São Tomé and Príncipe, he did not extend his scoring streak beyond three matches. His run was interrupted after he failed to score in consecutive matches against Guinea-Bissau.

Osimhen’s club brilliance and Haaland’s remarkable international record

While Osimhen’s longest Super Eagles scoring streak is three matches, his goalscoring runs at club level have been far more remarkable.

During Napoli’s historic 2022-23 Serie A title-winning season, he scored in eight consecutive league matches, becoming the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2019-20 campaign with Juventus to achieve that milestone.

Across those eight league matches, Osimhen, one of Serie A’s most expensive buys, scored 10 goals against Sampdoria, Juventus, Salernitana, Roma, Spezia, Cremonese, Sassuolo and Empoli. His outstanding form helped Napoli win their first Serie A title in 33 years while he finished as the league’s top scorer.

Following his move to Galatasaray, Osimhen also produced another historic scoring run in European competitions. Between November 2024 and November 2025, he scored in eight consecutive UEFA matches, registering 12 goals across UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League fixtures. The streak finally ended against Monaco in December 2025, leaving him just two matches short of the all-time UEFA record jointly held by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Osimhen is also closing in on another major milestone for Nigeria. He has scored 35 goals in 46 appearances for the Super Eagles and is only two goals behind Rashidi Yekini’s long-standing national record of 37 goals. Remarkably, Yekini reached his tally in 62 matches, meaning Osimhen is on course to surpass the legendary striker in far fewer appearances.

Despite that possibility, Osimhen has consistently shown respect for the late Nigerian icon, saying Yekini remains the greatest striker the Super Eagles have ever produced regardless of who eventually tops the scoring chart.

When compared with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, however, Osimhen still has a long way to go in terms of consecutive international scoring matches.

Haaland currently holds the longest competitive international scoring streak in football history after scoring in 14 consecutive matches for Norway, as per Transfermarkt. The incredible run began with a goal against Slovenia in 2024 and has produced 27 goals, including a brace in the World Cup Round of 16 win over Brazil.

The Norwegian’s remarkable streak places him ahead of legendary Germany striker Gerd Müller, who scored in 12 straight competitive international matches. Iraq’s Aymen Hussein also reached double figures, while football icons Michel Platini (8 straight games), Kylian Mbappé (9 matches) and Cristiano Ronaldo (7) feature among the longest international scoring streaks.