Owen Oseni, Plymouth Argyle’s in-form forward, has admitted he could hardly believe the moment he received his first invitation to the Nigeria national football team, describing the call-up as one of the biggest achievements of his career so far.
The 23-year-old striker has been included in Nigeria’s plans for the upcoming Unity Cup tournament in London and the international friendlies against Poland and Portugal, completing a remarkable rise after an impressive breakthrough season in English football.
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For Oseni, whose career path has taken him through non-league football, Scotland and now England’s League One, the opportunity to represent Nigeria felt almost unreal.
“I know I had an alright season, but to get called up for a country where there’s more than 240 million people, and probably 50% want to play for their country, was quite a big deal for me, so I was really buzzing,” Oseni told BBC Sport
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“The coaches were watching me, obviously, they picked up on the form I’d hit just towards the end of the season.”
Nigeria’s head coach Éric Chelle has used the upcoming international window to introduce several new names into the Super Eagles setup as the team prepares for a long-term rebuilding process ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Oseni is one of the most unexpected inclusions in the squad, but his late-season performances for Plymouth Argyle clearly caught the attention of Nigeria’s scouting network.
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The striker scored three goals in Plymouth’s final four matches of the campaign and ended the season with 10 goals in 33 appearances during his debut year in the English Football League. Despite Argyle narrowly missing out on the League One play-offs, Oseni emerged as one of the club’s most improved attacking players during the closing months of the season.
His journey to this point has been far from straightforward.
Before arriving at Plymouth last summer, Oseni featured for St Mirren F.C. in Scotland after previously impressing with Gateshead F.C. in the National League. Born in Ireland to a Nigerian father and an Ivorian mother, the forward remained eligible to represent three different nations internationally.
However, once Nigeria made contact, the decision became immediate.
“I’d love to represent any country on a national level,” he explained.
“It’s massive for me and my career and Nigeria, the Super Eagles, when they came knocking, it was a decision that I couldn’t turn down.”
“I didn’t think there was a possibility that that could happen. All I know is to just work hard, and many doors could open, but I definitely didn’t think that I would be one of them,” he said.
The coming weeks now present Oseni with the biggest stage of his career.
Nigeria are set to defend their Unity Cup crown in London later this month alongside Jamaica, India and Zimbabwe, before travelling into a demanding set of international friendlies against European heavyweights Poland and Portugal.
That could potentially place Oseni on the same pitch as global stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski, while also training daily alongside some of Africa’s finest talents, including Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
For a player who was still fighting for consistency earlier in the season, the opportunity represents a massive confidence boost heading into the new campaign.
“It’ll definitely boost my confidence coming back into pre-season,” Oseni said.
“I’m looking to come back and nail down the starting position now for Argyle next year, and I think this will help me a lot, this call-up.”
The striker also defended the reputation of League One football, insisting the quality within England’s third division is often underestimated despite the number of talented players competing there.
“I feel like in League One being the third tier in England, it could get looked upon as not the highest standard because it’s third tier,” he added.
“But there’s a lot of great players in League One, there’s a lot of good internationals in League One who go and do well for the country.
READ ALSO: Chelle picks Osimhen, Lookman for Portugal, Poland friendlies, names seven NPFL stars for Unity Cup
“So it definitely gives League One that recognition I think it deserves because I think in terms of the individual quality, and the players this season, the league was very good.”
Oseni’s inclusion also reflects Nigeria’s growing focus on widening its talent pool under Chelle.
Now, after years of quietly climbing through the football ladder, Oseni suddenly finds himself preparing for life with one of Africa’s biggest national teams, a moment he once never imagined possible.
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