Following the forward’s remarkable performance for Napoli in the 2022–23 season, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has presented Victor Osimhen with a unique jersey and ball.
Osimhen played a crucial role in Napoli’s first Scudetto victory in 33 years. The 24-year-old played 32 league games for the Partenopei, scoring 26 goals and providing out four assists.
The striker also scored five goals in six UEFA Champions League games for his team. Osimhen won the Serie A top scorer award, being the first African to do so.
The Nigerian forward who has been linked with a move away from Italy, was also named best forward and included in the Team of the Season.
FIFA celebrated him with the aforementioned alongside a citation that reads;
Victor Osimhen, you represent at the moment what football can do. FIFA wrote in a message to the player.
From Lagos to Napoli where people love you, you have suffered, but your love for football and determination have guided you. Keep going, keep pushing. Africa needs examples and millions are watching and dreaming.
Osimhen started his senior career in Germany in 2017 with VfL Wolfsburg. After spending a season and a half with the team, he moved on loan to Charleroi in Belgium in 2018–19 before joining Lille in France.
With the French club, he played his first game of European football in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. Osimhen moved to Serie A team Napoli in 2020 for a club-record €70 million.
In the 2021–22 season, he was named the Best Young Player in Serie A. He now holds the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single season and is the best goal-scorer among Africans in Serie A.
In 2015, Osimhen was given the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Boot award, which Nigeria won. He participated in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and made his senior international debut in June 2017. He presently ranks eighth all-time among Nigeria’s national team’s goal scorers.
