AFCON 2025: Eric Chelle explains mystery behind Victor Osimhen's semi-final substitution ahead of Egypt clash

Victor Osimhen is a doubt for Nigeria's third-place playoff against Egypt at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Super Eagles came close to eliminating tournament hosts Morocco on Wednesday, only to squander their advantage in the shootout to fall to a semi-final defeat.

Nigeria had an advantage after Stanley Nwabali had thwarted Hamza Igamane on Morocco's second kick, but Samuel Chukwueze fired tamely into Bono's arms on the Super Eagles' next attempt, failing to put the West Africans ahead.

While the Atlas Lions scored their remaining kicks, Bruno Onyemaechi could not beat Bono on Nigeria's fourth kick, leaving Youssef En-Nesyri to score the decisive spotkick for the host nation.

To the surprise of many, Osimhen was not involved in the shootout after coming off in the closing moments of extra time.

Now, Eric Chelle has noted why the forward was withdrawn against the Atlas Lions.

Osimhen injury: Chelle provides update on Super Eagles striker

The Super Eagles head coach has explained why Osimhen was replaced just before the shootout.

“So since the beginning of this Africa Cup of Nations, every day at every training session we have done penalty sessions and statistically the players who took the penalties were the best, and that’s why we made changes to bring in the players who were going to shoot, said Chelle via The Standard.

“Chukwueze came on to take his penalty and even though he didn’t score. So when we saw the match was heading towards penalties, it was when we brought in the players who were shooting the best.

“Victor had a small injury to his ankle and that’s why we brought in Paul, who statistically was one of the best shooters of this period.”

Osimhen injury: How do Super Eagles replace star forward against Egypt?

Although it has yet to be confirmed whether Osimhen would miss Nigeria's match with Egypt, Onuachu is the team's like-for-like replacement.

The Trabzonspor forward started the group-stage match against Uganda alongside Osimhen on that occasion, scoring one of the team's three goals en route to a 3-1 victory.

While it would be hard to replace Osimhen's six goal contributions and underrated work rate, Chelle must find solutions if the Galatasaray star is unable to play on Saturday.

Nigeria have never lost a third-place playoff match in AFCON history, and will seek a ninth consecutive victory at this stage at the expense of the Pharaohs.