Super Eagles without Victor Osimhen: Nigeria’s win, draw and loss record in 2026

Victor Osimhen has spent much of 2026 watching the Super Eagles from the sidelines, and Nigeria’s results without their star striker has been a mix of resilience and vulnerability, Afrik-Foot reports.

The Galatasaray forward has featured in only three of Nigeria’s matches this year, with his last appearance coming in the 0-0 AFCON semi-final draw against Morocco on January 14. He played 118 minutes that night before Morocco won the shootout 4-2.

Since then, Nigeria have had to build an attack without their most prolific goalscorer, including during September’s opening AFCON 2027 qualifiers. Osimhen was ruled out of the games against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau after suffering a right-thigh muscle strain while playing for Galatasaray.

Nigeria: Super Eagles’ record without Osimhen

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have played nine matches without Osimhen in 2026, producing four wins, three draws and two defeats.

The run began with a 0-0 draw against Egypt in the AFCON third-place play-off on January 17. Nigeria eventually won 4-2 on penalties to pick up the tournament’s bronze medal for a record-extending nine times.

Eric Chelle’s side then defeated Iran 2-1 and drew 2-2 with Jordan in March before sweeping aside Zimbabwe 2-0 and Jamaica 3-0 during the Unity Cup in London. Femi Azeez scored twice against Zimbabwe, while Alhassan Yusuf struck twice and Terem Moffi added another against Jamaica.

The Super Eagles were forced to a thrilling 2-2 draw against Poland in Warsaw, before Nigeria’s unbeaten spell ended with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of World Cup-bound Portugal in Leiria.

An injury suffered during a league game for Galatasaray then kept Osimhen out of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September.

The Super Eagles recovered from 1-0 down to beat Madagascar 2-1 in Uyo, with debutants George Ilenikhena and Moses Usor scoring the goals. Four days later, Guinea-Bissau inflicted a 3-0 defeat on the three-time African champions in Bissau.

The numbers behind the Osimhen question

Nigeria’s record without Osimhen in 2026 now stands at four wins, three draws and two defeats from nine matches, giving the Super Eagles a 44.4 per cent win rate, 33.3 per cent draw rate and 22.2 per cent loss rate.

The numbers also reveal a team capable of finding goals without its star striker. The Super Eagles have scored 17 goals and conceded 12 across those nine matches, keeping their scoring rate close to two goals a match.

Their most productive performances came in emphatic victories over Jamaica and Zimbabwe, which are sandwiched between hard-fought wins against Iran and Madagascar 2-1. Different forwards shared the scoring burden for the Eric Chelle-tutored Super Eagles.

The three draws, against Egypt, Jordan and Poland also reveal that Nigeria have generally been competitive without Osimhen, but have sometimes struggled to turn promising performances into victories. The 3-0 defeat by Guinea-Bissau, meanwhile, is the heaviest setback of the nine-game run and of the last 36 years in competitive African football.

Interestingly, the record does not point to Nigeria being unable to win without Osimhen. Instead, it shows a side that has collected four victories while also dropping points in three draws and suffering two defeats across nine matches, leaving Chelle with a clear selection challenge whenever his first-choice striker is unavailable.