Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni snubbed both Rashidi Yekini and John Obi Mikel as he unveiled his greatest-ever Nigeria starting eleven in a video shared on the official Super Eagles account on X, with current forward Victor Osimhen also missing from his selection.

Yakubu picked Vincent Enyeama in goal, with Bright Osayi-Samuel, Joseph Yobo, Danny Shittu and Celestine Babayaro forming his back four.

Sunday Oliseh and Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha were selected in central midfield, while Julius Aghahowa and Finidi George occupied the wide positions. Up front, Yakubu picked himself alongside Nwankwo Kanu.

Osayi-Samuel, who did not make his Super Eagles debut until 2022, stood out as the only representative of the current generation in a team otherwise built around Nigeria’s celebrated 1990s and 2000s sides. The defender, who featured for Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, previously played as a winger before transitioning to right-back during his time at Fenerbahce.

Enyeama’s selection between the posts came as little surprise, with the former Enyimba and Lille goalkeeper having earned 101 caps and appeared at three World Cups during a career widely regarded as one of the finest by an African shot-stopper. Yobo, also capped 101 times, featured at three World Cups and won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, while Shittu made 32 appearances for Nigeria between 2002 and 2010, including at the 2010 World Cup. Babayaro, capped 27 times, played at the 1998 World Cup and enjoyed a long spell at Chelsea.

The midfield pairing of Oliseh and Okocha carries particular significance given Yakubu’s previously stated view that Oliseh was the superior midfielder to Mikel, a stance that helps explain the former Chelsea man’s absence despite winning the 2013 Nations Cup and making 249 Premier League appearances. Okocha, who captained the Super Eagles at the 2002 World Cup, won 73 caps and scored 14 goals for Nigeria.

Aghahowa and Finidi filled the wide berths, with Aghahowa remembered for his acrobatic goal celebrations and a double against Senegal in the 2000 Nations Cup quarter-final, while Finidi, a 1994 Nations Cup winner and last-16 finisher at the 1994 World Cup, is regarded by many as Nigeria’s finest-ever right winger.

Kanu, a two-time African Footballer of the Year and Olympic gold medallist at Atlanta 1996, was selected to partner Yakubu in attack.

Yakubu himself remains Nigeria’s fourth-highest all-time goalscorer, having netted 21 goals in 57 appearances between 2000 and 2012, and holds the distinction of being Nigeria’s most prolific player in Premier League history, with 95 goals in 252 appearances for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn Rovers.

By selecting himself and Kanu up front, Yakubu overlooked Osimhen, currently Nigeria’s second-highest all-time goalscorer behind Yekini, whose 13 Nations Cup goals remain a national record.

Also absent from the selection were Daniel Amokachi, Obafemi Martins and Victor Ikpeba, with Yekini’s omission standing out as the most notable exclusion from a team otherwise steeped in Nigerian football history.