{"id":24662,"date":"2025-10-14T19:52:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/?p=24662"},"modified":"2025-10-14T20:02:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T20:02:40","slug":"osimhen-hat-trick-powers-nigeria-closer-to-2026-world-cup-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/fr\/osimhen-hat-trick-powers-nigeria-closer-to-2026-world-cup-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Osimhen hat-trick powers Nigeria closer to 2026 World Cup playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Angu Lesley Ngwa Akonwi<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Football Writer,kick442.com-Cameroon<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Victor Osimhen produced a dazzling display in Uyo as Nigeria swept aside Benin Republic 4\u20130 to move within touching distance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffs. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Galatasaray striker struck a hat-trick, while Frank Onyeka added the fourth to complete a commanding performance for the Super Eagles.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Osimhen opened the scoring midway just four minutes the first half with a composed finish after latching onto a through ball from Alex Iwobi. He doubled the lead just before the interval, pouncing on a defensive error to slot home from close range. The 25-year-old sealed his treble shortly after the restart with a trademark header, sending the home crowd into raptures and underlining his status as Africa\u2019s most lethal forward.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Onyeka added gloss to the scoreline with a curling effort from the edge of the box as Nigeria\u2019s attacking rhythm overwhelmed their visitors. The result lifts the Super Eagles into a strong position in their qualifying group, edging them closer to a playoff berth for the North American finals.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Eric Chelle hailed his side\u2019s response after recent draws, praising the team\u2019s energy and discipline. \u201cWe wanted to show intensity from the start, and the boys delivered,\u201d he said post-match. \u201cOsimhen led by example, and everyone followed his lead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The win means Nigeria finish second and are in contention for one of the playoffs spots.\u00a0 Nigeria\u2019s fate now rests in other results but their huge goal difference makes them favourites to reach the playoffs.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Copyright\u00a92025 kick442.com-Cameroon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>All rights reserved. This material and any other digital content on this platform may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written, or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from our management.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This site is not responsible for the content displayed by external sites<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Angu Lesley Ngwa Akonwi Football Writer,kick442.com-Cameroon Victor Osimhen produced a dazzling display in Uyo&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,5,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-african-football","category-football","category-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - 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