Olushola Omogbehin
Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, has been named as one of the world’s most prolific international goalscorers alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
PUNCH Sports Extra reports that Osimhen made the podium for the Top Scorers of National Teams in the third decade of the 21st century (2021-2030) rankings, placing him in elite company with some of football’s biggest names.
Osimhen’s record shows steady rise across the decade as he scored five goals in 2021, repeated that total in 2022 and 2023, added three in 2024, and exploded for nine goals in 2025, his most productive year yet.
Ahead of Osimhen in IFFHS rankings is Norway’s Erling Haaland, who has scored 49 international goals since 2021, ahead of England captain Harry Kane on 46 and Argentina legend Lionel Messi on 44.
Cristiano Ronaldo follows closely with 41 goals for Portugal, while France’s Kylian Mbappe has 39. Also featuring prominently are the Netherlands’ Memphis Depay and Iran’s Mehdi Taremi on 34 each, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Senegal’s Sadio Mane on 32, and Son Heung-min on 28 for South Korea.
Since Osimhen made his Super Eagles debut in 2017, he has scored 35 goals in 51 appearances, making him Nigeria’s second-highest goalscorer of all time bypassing Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Segun Odegbami, Obafemi Martins and Ikechukwu Uche.
In football history in Nigeria, only the legendary Rashidi Yekini remains ahead of him, by just two goals.
