Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen will not be part of the the Super Eagles team that will play South Africa in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier scheduled for June 7 owing to an injury. He will also miss the match with Benin on Monday June 10.
It will be the third and fourth World Cup qualifiers the deadly striker has missed after failing to make the squad that played Lesotho and Zimbabwe, both matches ended 1-1.
However, it seems South Africa fans are still wary of a Super Eagles side without Osimhen, while their counterparts from Nigeria feel it will be a big miss for coach Finidi George and could jeopardise the qualification hopes .
Here are the reactions from GOAL readers.
Last time Super Eagles were lucky vs Bafana
Nigeria are not a threat anymore to South Africans, they just have average overrated international players. The last time we met they were lucky we should have won that game – Mondli Luka Modra
Not a boost for Bafana!
Is that a boost? For me, I think it’s a problem. Victor doesn’t score goals and is one of the overrated players. We won’t know who to plan for. Nigeria have a lot of better strikers, it’s very good for us when they play him – Litha Matomela
Could have called Adebayo
Why didn’t you just take that opportunity to call up Elijah Adebayo? 10 goals in the first season in the premiership are enough signs of his quality – Deji Ayangunna
George must know Bafana are no pushover
Finidi must know he’s playing South Africa, and they’re no pushover. They are a very good team. No room for mistakes. No room for trials. Take South Africa seriously else we won’t be at the World Cup – Ebe Ogidi
Victory would’ve been sweeter with Osimhen & Lookman
No, we wanted Osimhen there, he would’ve made us stronger and even better. Victory would be sweeter with him and Ademola Lookman is there – Pearl Mais Boost
I saw the injury coming vs Lecce
That last-minute header in Napoli’s last Serie A match against Lecce! I saw the injury coming because of the way he landed, it wasn’t really necessary. Other players won’t bother, but Osimhen is one player who never gives up on any ball, an awesome trademark. Get well soon – Pharm Jbarth
Postpone the match until Osimhen is fit
They can postpone this match until he’s fit to play because Bafana don’t care about this guy who always scores offside goals – M Jerry Mendwa Kondile
Lookman & Boniface the real deal?
Osimhen is not really a threat, he is overrated. Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface are the ones who should be injured – Edw In
Osimhen’s absence reason why Nigeria struggled
This guy was the reason we dropped points against Lesotho and Zimbabwe. We are a different team when we don’t have Victor Osimhen. This is a big miss – Shina Ayor
Osimhen is like Avatar!
Osimhen is like Avatar, when he’s needed most, he vanishes. Not my kind of striker though. Chelsea shouldn’t stress over this guy! – GodswillUdoidi1
