He managed Napoli. He signed some of the game’s elite forwards. When Rafa Benitez says the World Cup is missing something without Victor Osimhen, that opinion arrives with a specific weight that most pundits cannot match.
Rafa Benitez has placed Victor Osimhen in the select company of players whose absence makes the 2026 FIFA World Cup a lesser spectacle. The former Real Madrid and Liverpool manager, speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of the tournament, was asked which stars he would most have liked to see competing in North America. His answer was immediate, and the Nigerian’s name was second on his list.
Benitez named Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as his first choice of absent player, then grouped Osimhen alongside Piotr Zieliński and Robert Lewandowski — a quartet of exceptional footballers whose countries or circumstances have kept them from the biggest stage in the game. In Osimhen’s case, the reason is Nigeria’s penalty shootout elimination by DR Congo in the African playoff final in Rabat last November. In Lewandowski’s case, Poland failed to emerge from a difficult European qualification group. In Kvaratskhelia’s case, Georgia did not secure qualification. The theme of Benitez’s list was elite forwards unavailable not because of injury or form, but because football’s qualifying process did not allow their countries through. Fans following all World Cup and Super Eagles reactions can find the latest content and Bet9ja pre-match offers through Bet9ja’s correct score market page as the tournament group stage develops.
The Napoli Connection That Gives Benitez’s View Extra Weight
Benitez managed Napoli between 2013 and 2015, winning the Coppa Italia in his first season and establishing himself as a significant figure in the club’s modern history. That tenure gives him a direct emotional and professional connection to the club at which Osimhen became the striker the world was talking about before his move to Galatasaray. When Benitez says Osimhen’s absence registers on a personal level as well as a football one, the Napoli connection explains why. He was not speaking as a neutral observer reciting a list of well-known names. He was speaking as someone who has followed Osimhen’s development closely since his time at a club where the striker subsequently wrote the most significant chapter of his career to date.
Benitez’s assessment of what the World Cup is missing by not having Osimhen is precisely the kind of external validation that Nigerian football supporters find meaningful at a moment when the absence is still raw. The tournament is under way. Nigeria is not in it. Having a manager of Benitez’s stature frame that absence as a loss for the competition itself rather than merely for Nigerian football changes the register of the conversation slightly. It places Osimhen in the tier of players whose exclusion is a consequence of footballing misfortune rather than a reflection of their standing in the game. For all the latest Super Eagles and Osimhen news this summer, the full coverage is at Nigeria’s top Bet9ja promotion code page.
Benitez’s World Cup Predictions and the Osimhen Transfer Backdrop
Beyond the absent stars, Benitez used the La Gazzetta interview to map out the teams he considers the strongest contenders for the trophy. France was his primary candidate, with the argument built on a depth of attacking talent so profound that several globally recognised forwards did not make the final selection a list that included Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué, Marcus Thuram, Michael Olise, and Kylian Mbappé among those left at home. He also highlighted Spain for the combination of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams on the flanks alongside a central midfield pairing of Pedri and Rodri that represents one of the most technically accomplished units at the tournament. Germany’s historical weight and England’s individual quality through Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, and Declan Rice completed his picture of the serious contenders.
Against that backdrop, Osimhen’s own summer is unfolding in parallel. Galatasaray rejected a bid of approximately €120 million from Atlético Madrid at the start of the window, with the Turkish champions insisting their striker is not for sale. Manchester United have also been linked with the Nigerian, though no formal offer from Old Trafford has been reported. The player’s contract in Istanbul runs until 2028, and the club’s stated position remains unchanged: Osimhen is not leaving this summer unless a fee that significantly exceeds what Atlético submitted arrives on their desk. For now he watches a World Cup in which his quality would have been one of its most compelling storylines, while the clubs circling him work out whether they are willing to meet the price Galatasaray are holding. All Osimhen transfer news and Super Eagles updates through the summer are available at FootballInNigeria.com.ng’s Bet9ja promotion code page.
📌 Did You Know?
- Rafa Benitez managed Napoli from 2013 to 2015, winning the Coppa Italia in his debut season at the club. His tenure preceded Victor Osimhen’s arrival at Naples by several years, but his knowledge of the club and its striker culture gives his assessment of Osimhen genuine credibility.
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the first player Benitez named on his list of World Cup absentees, plays for Paris Saint-Germain and represented Georgia at international level. Georgia qualified for UEFA Euro 2024 as a major tournament surprise but fell short of reaching the 2026 World Cup, keeping Kvaratskhelia off the global stage.
- Robert Lewandowski, the third player Benitez cited alongside Osimhen, is Poland’s all time leading scorer and widely regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of his generation. Poland failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, meaning Lewandowski now 37 is unlikely ever to appear at another edition of the tournament.
- The 2026 World Cup opening day produced three red cards in Mexico’s 2-0 victory over South Africa at the Estadio Azteca, setting a record for the most dismissals in a single World Cup opening match. Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored for the co-hosts in a match that also saw two South African players and one Mexican sent off.
- Nigeria finished second in CAF Group C with 17 points, one behind South Africa, before defeating Gabon in the playoff semi final and losing the decisive playoff final to DR Congo on penalties. The narrow margin of Nigeria’s group-stage exit a single point makes it one of the tightest World Cup qualification failures in their history.
- Manchester United’s reported interest in Osimhen adds a second major European club to the queue behind Galatasaray’s striker, joining the previously reported Atlético Madrid pursuit. Both clubs’ interest reflects the global consensus that Osimhen, at 27 and in the prime years of his career, is one of the few centre-forwards capable of transforming a title-challenging club’s attacking output.
- France’s World Cup squad selection created headlines even before the tournament began, with Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé, and several other high-profile players omitted by manager Didier Deschamps despite their club form. Their exclusion became a talking point that Benitez used to illustrate the depth of French football talent that no other nation can currently match.
