Osimhen, Lookman & Bassey Named in 2025 AFCON Best XI

Three Super Eagles stars — Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Calvin Bassey — have been included in the Official Best XI following the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced. The selections were part of the Team of the Tournament unveiled by CAF’s Technical Study Group after the competition concluded.

Osimhen, Nigeria’s talismanic striker, was named in the Best XI after a commanding performance in attack. He scored four goals and provided two assists, making him one of the standout forwards across the tournament. Lookman earned his spot thanks to his creative influence, finishing the competition with multiple goals and assists — more goal contributions than any other player. Bassey was recognised for his defensive solidity, helping Nigeria maintain clean sheets through much of the tournament before their semi-final exit.

The Best XI includes players from three nations — Senegal (the champions), Morocco (runners-up) and Nigeria, who secured third place after defeating Egypt in the bronze-medal match. Alongside the Nigerians are some of the tournament’s other notable performers, with the team assembled in a balanced formation representing defence, midfield and attack.

Other players in the Best XI include Yassine Bounou in goal, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Senegal’s Sadio Mané, who was named Player of the Tournament. The selection reflects the individuals who had the most significant impact on AFCON 2025 across all participating teams.

EDITORIAL

Football’s greatest tournaments are defined not merely by the collective journeys of teams, but by the individual excellence that punctuates those journeys — moments of inspiration that transcend results to etch themselves into the memory of those who witnessed them. In this respect, the inclusion of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Calvin Bassey in the AFCON 2025 Best XI feels less like recognition and more like vindication of the Super Eagles’ pulsating presence in Morocco.

Osimhen’s inclusion in the forward line is emblematic of his relentless drive and predatory instincts. To score four goals and assist twice in a tournament of such intensity where every defender is primed and every opportunity painstakingly fought for — is to assert yourself not just as a scorer, but as a catalyst for your team’s fortunes. His performances were not fragments of brilliance but sustained chapters in Nigeria’s narrative, the backbone of an attack that carried both threat and intention.

Ademola Lookman’s berth in the midfield trio speaks to a different but no less vital quality creative authority. In a competition where tactical caution often tempers expression, Lookman refused to be hemmed in. His goal contributions — surpassing those of any other player — were not fortunate outliers but the products of incisive movement, vision and technical assurance. To be so influential in a tournament of equals is to mark oneself as indispensable.

At the other end of the pitch, Calvin Bassey’s presence in the Best XI affirms the often-unseen work that underpins forward flair. Defensive excellence is not flamboyant it is exacting, repetitive and judged by what does not happen — goals not conceded, chances denied. Bassey was the quiet sentinel whose consistency offered the Super Eagles a platform from which their attackers could flourish.

That three of Nigeria’s stars feature in the CAF Best XI — alongside a constellation from champions Senegal and hosts Morocco — underscores a broader truth football is, at its best, a synthesis of artistry and industry. The Super Eagles’ campaign was a testament to both.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Victor Osimhen finished AFCON 2025 with four goals and two assists, making him one of the competition’s most productive attackers.
2. Ademola Lookman recorded the most goal involvements at AFCON 2025, with a combined tally of goals and assists higher than any other player.
3. Calvin Bassey helped Nigeria keep three clean sheets in the tournament before missing the third-place playoff due to suspension.
4. Morocco’s Yassine Bounou, who made the Best XI, won the Golden Glove for his performances, conceding just two goals in seven matches.
5. Senegal’s Sadio Mané was named Player of the Tournament, featuring in the Best XI alongside Osimhen and Lookman.