Victor Osimhen reportedly stormed out of his team’s dressing room and vowed to abandon the Africa Cup of Nations following a heated altercation with teammate Ademola Lookman during their dominant win over Mozambique, raising questions about unity within the squad as they advance in the tournament.
The 27-year-old forward clashed with Lookman in the 62nd minute of Monday’s 4-0 last-16 victory, berating him over a pass and declaring: “listen to me, it is a team game.”
Captain Wilfred Ndidi stepped in to calm tensions, but Osimhen signaled for a substitution and ceased participating before being replaced by Moses Simon six minutes later.
After the match, Osimhen bypassed celebrations with his teammates and headed straight to the tunnel, where an anonymous source said he discarded his accreditation tag in the dressing room and threatened to quit the competition to rejoin his club immediately.
It remains unclear if the dispute has been settled, with the team’s media officer declining to comment.
Lookman, who earned man-of-the-match honors with a goal and two assists, minimized the episode, stating: “The team won 4-0. Vic is our number one guy. Everybody knows this. He is a top striker and a top player. All the rest of that is not important.”
He added: “There’s no issue. It’s just football. Always football. He (Osimhen) is my brother.”
Head coach Eric Chelle opted for privacy, saying: “What happened on the pitch will stay with the group. I don’t need to tell people what happened. I will keep that for the group and me. We will talk afterwards.”
Chelle emphasized maintaining focus: “We just won one game. If we want to be ambitious, we must keep the quality on the pitch. And you know positive dynamics can easily turn to negative ones. My job now is to keep the players very focused on their training sessions and their behaviour.”
The Super Eagles, unbeaten in the 2025 edition hosted by Morocco, now face either Senegal or Algeria in the quarter-finals, with internal harmony under the spotlight as they chase a fourth continental title.
