Former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo has weighed in on the Super Eagles‘ captain candidacy after William Troost-Ekong and Ahmed Musa retired, Soccernet.ng reports.
Ahmed Musa, alongside William Troost-Ekong and Kenneth Omeruo, were the team leaders during the AFCON 2023 tournament.
However, with two of the team leaders bowing out before the AFCON 2025 showdown in Morocco, alongside Omeruo’s absence from Eric Chelle’s squad, the captaincy spot is wide open.
Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle has yet to publicly opine on the team’s leadership issues, although Moses Simon, Wilfried Ndidi and Alex Iwobi have been tipped to take over, considering they’ve been in the team for the longest time.
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Ighalo tips Victor Osimhen to be the next Super Eagles captain
Odion Ighalo’s last game for the Nigerian National team came in the World Cup qualifier against Ghana, a game Victor Osimhen started.
The game ended in a draw with Ighalo coming on for the final 12 minutes, but Ghana qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup through away goals. Three years later, the Super Eagles missed out on another World Cup.
Still, the former Watford striker is confident Osimhen is the man in line to lead Nigeria in Morocco, largely because of his hunger on the pitch.
“Victor. Not because he’s the eldest player in the team, because we have the likes of Ndidi, Moses Simon, Awaziem and Alex Iwobi,” the 36-year-old said in an interview with Colin Udoh.
“There are people ahead of him, but because Osimhen is doing well, and has the balls to demand what the team wants. Ndidi is not the talking type; he’s a very calm guy, but Osimhen is outspoken.
“He’ll speak on behalf of the team, he’ll ginger the boys, fight for them, speak to anyone that needs to be spoken to, even in games.
“Being a captain is not easy because your neck is on the line. Whatever the team demands, the captain takes to the Federation, and if the Federation wants to pick a bone, it’ll be with the captain.
“With him, I believe he can speak because he’s the biggest player in that team. I think they’ll listen to him and not talk down on him because he’s doing well.
“He’s not the eldest, but I believe he has the character to advise the team and talk to them. When you see him fighting, you, as a player, will want to emulate that,” Ighalo concluded.
Is Ighalo’s pick the right choice?
The last time William Troost-Ekong captained the Super Eagles as a starter on the pitch was in Nigeria’s 2-1 win against Lesotho. In the same game, he scored his 8th and final goal in the green and white colours of Nigeria.
Since then, Wilfred Ndidi has taken over captaincy duties, with Ekong’s leadership role relegated to the bench and backroom duties.
Under Ndidi, several questions have sufficed, the main one being the ability of the former Leicester man to give orders that’ll be followed by teammates on the pitch.
Against Benin Republic, Stanley Nwabali had a scuffle with an opposition attacker, and it led to a debacle between both teams. Typically, Ekong would come in, calm the situation and then give his goalkeeper a talking to.
Look at this, the ref didn’t blow for foul initially, and Nwabali nonchalantly just dropped the ball. This is why Osimhen gets pissed at them. https://t.co/Y2QT9wI5rU pic.twitter.com/TOov1kleyk
— Ken (@K3N3_X) October 14, 2025
However, Ndidi’s words were not enough for the Chippa United goalkeeper. Instead, Nwabali hit out at the Besiktas midfielder, and Ndidi simply backed out. No further cautions, nothing.
In Nigeria’s loss to DR Congo at Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah in Morocco, Victor Osimhen was taken off at half-time, and Eric Chelle’s men lost all sense of direction.
Ndidi was paired alongside Frank Onyeka in the middle of the park and played 120 minutes leading into the penalty shoot-out.
As Congo dominated, the captain of the night was seen hiding. Typically, a captain would have motivated his teammates to keep his head in the game, but Ndidi couldn’t even hold on to the ball.
To round it up, Calvin Bassey stepped up to take Nigeria’s first spot kick on the night, and he missed. Nigeria would go on to take five more penalties, missing two, but Ndidi didn’t have the guts to step up and attempt a swing at it.
Moses Simon did step up, but his attempt was poor, and just straight down the left, a pale attempt at the very least, without any vim.
While Moses Simon, Awaziem, Iwobi and Ndidi are leading candidates, none of them have the characteristics it takes to lead Nigeria as Osimhen does.
Leadership is more than just pep talks, it’s digging in when your team have no energy left, when they need something or someone to look up to.
A late sprint, a tackle lounge, a spirited fight, a goal from nowhere, and no one does that like Osimhen.
So yes, Ighalo’s pick aligns with what the Super Eagles need at the moment, especially after the failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.