Osimhen Scores Twice in Extra Time as Nigeria Beat Gabon

Nigeria are one win from the intercontinental playoffs. Victor Osimhen scored twice in extra time on Thursday night, and the Super Eagles beat Gabon 4-1 in Rabat after a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes sent the African playoff semifinal into an extra half hour.

Akor Adams put Nigeria ahead on 78 minutes at Stade Prince Moulay El Hassan, taking advantage of a defensive error. Mario Lemina leveled for Gabon on 89 minutes with a deflected shot, and neither side could find a winner before the whistle sent the tie on.

Osimhen nearly settled it earlier. He ran clear at the end of normal time and fired wide with only goalkeeper Loyce Mbaba to beat, a miss that left the Nigeria bench holding its breath and Gabon still alive.

Chidera Ejuke restored Nigeria's lead on 97 minutes, finishing from close range after Wilfred Ndidi played him in. It was Ejuke's first goal for his country, and it broke Gabon's shape for good.

Osimhen took the game away inside eight minutes. He converted a pass from Benjamin Fredrick across Mbaba on 102 minutes, then controlled a long ball on 110 minutes and beat the goalkeeper again at the far corner for his second of the night.

The scoreline flatters the first 90 minutes and tells the truth about the last 30. Nigeria scored once in normal time and three times in extra time, and all three extra-time goals came in a 13-minute stretch once Gabon's legs went. A semifinal that had been a coin flip became a rout in the time it took Osimhen to find the far corner twice.

Gabon leave Rabat with the equalizer as their tournament's high point. Lemina's deflected goal on 89 minutes had them 30 minutes from a final, and their defense had held the group favorites' main striker scoreless for 101 minutes. The playoff format gives a beaten semifinalist nothing, and Gabon's World Cup wait runs on.

The win sends Eric Chelle's side into Sunday's African final in Rabat, where they face DR Congo, who beat Cameroon 1-0 in the night's second semifinal. The winner of that final takes a place in the six-team intercontinental playoff tournament in March, where two World Cup places are still open.

Nigeria are chasing a seventh World Cup appearance, and they haven't reached the finals since 2018. Sunday is the last African step. Win it, and March gives them a second route into the 48-team field in the United States, Canada and Mexico.