Cameroon Legend’s Controversial AFCON 2025 Player Ratings Ignite Debate.

Rigobert Song

Cameroon legend Rigobert Song has stirred major controversy during the ongoing AFCON 2025 by declaring that Super Eagles stars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman are not world-class players.

In a recent ESPN Africa interview, the former Indomitable Lions captain who won AFCON titles in 2000 and 2002 was asked to classify various tournament stars as “world-class” or not. Song confidently placed Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo) and Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast) in the elite category, alongside names like Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Achraf Hakimi, and even himself.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

However, he explicitly excluded Nigeria’s dynamic duo: Osimhen (currently tearing it up on loan at Galatasaray) and Lookman (Atalanta’s Europa League hero).

The comments have drawn sharp criticism, with many pointing out the irony: Among the players Song rated, only Aubameyang, Mahrez, Salah, Hakimi, Lookman, and Osimhen have actually won the prestigious CAF African Player of the Year award.

Osimhen, the reigning holder in some cycles and widely regarded as one of the top five strikers globally, has been in blistering form. Lookman, fresh off single-handedly winning the UEFA Europa League final for Atalanta with a hat-trick, was courted by Europe’s biggest clubs last summer.

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Song, a defensive icon in his playing days and former Cameroon coach, even rated lesser-known names like Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, and Patson Daka as world-class, adding fuel to the debate.