Nigeria had to dig deep in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying opener against Sierra Leone but there were absolutely no issues on Monday in the Super Eagles’ 10-0 thrashing of São Tomé and Príncipe. Victor Osimhen scored four goals and Terem Moffi tallied twice on his first competitive start along with strikes from Moses Simon, Peter Otebo, Ademola Lookman and Emmanuel Dennis to keep Nigeria at the top of Group A after two games. São Tomé remain in last place with zero points from their opening two games, conceding fifteen goals while only scoring once.
The score could have been even more lopsided as Nigeria set the record for most decisive victory in the national team’s history, surpassing a 10-1 victory over Benin in 1959 when the country was known as Dahomey. After the offside flag denied the Super Eagles a couple of times, captain Moses Simon picked out Osimhen for the opener in the 9th minute with his cross finding the Napoli striker for an easy header. The two switched roles on Nigeria’s second in the 28th minute when Osimhen tapped a low cross for a simple tap in by Simon.
FC Lorient striker Terem Moffi then got in on the action to make it 3-0 before halftime, receiving a pass from Osimhen and then cutting back onto his left foot to finish past helpless São Tomé keeper Anástacio Bragança. Bragança did well to keep the deficit low by halftime but the second half saw Nigeria show no mercy at all. Osimhen scored his second in the 48th minute from an Ademola Lookman cross and then Etebo curled in a beautiful free kick that kissed the crossbar on its way past Bragança.
Moffi completed his brace in 59th minute off a cross from Zaidu Sanusi and then his 62nd minute chipped shot was saved by Bragança only for Lookman to pounce on the rebound for his first Nigeria goal. Osimhen scored two more goals in the final half hour and the record was achieved in second half stoppage time when Dennis was taken down in the box for a penalty kick and the Watford forward got up to convert from the spot for his first Super Eagles goal.
Highlights from the match played in Agadir, Morocco are below.
