Becoming Nigeria’s all-time highest goal scorer is a dream for
most Nigerian strikers, one that has been a difficult target to
achieve for most players.
The
Super Eagles have a rich-storied history of possessing skillful
and dangerous forwards to add with many other talented players who
have graced the pitch locally and internationally over the
years.
This article delves into unveiling who Nigeria’s all-time
highest goal scorer is, and also going further to list out the top
10 Super Eagles top scorers in
history along with Super Eagles strikers mesmerising
Europe.
Without much further ado, let’s get down to the thick of the
action.
Who is Nigeria’s all-time highest goal
scorer?
Nigeria has a rich history in global football, one that has
captivated arch rivals, fans and pundits alike in times past.
The Super Eagles have had their fair share of talented marksmen
who have changed the course of the game in their active years.
While the younger generation have the talent to take over the
top scoring charts in Nigeria’s international football, they owe
their desire to be better (in some parts) to the legendary players
who set the pace and inspired them to dream bigger.
The most iconic footballers of the national team may not have
scored many goals like their counterparts elsewhere in Africa and
around the world, but the place of Rashidi Yekini as Nigeria’s
all-time highest goal scorer has lasted since he retired in
1998.
The prolific former Shooting Stars forward scored 37 goals in 58
matches for Nigeria at an impressive rate of 0.64 goals per game to
become the Super Eagles top scorer in past and present history.
Yekini set the bar so high that as of 2024, his goal-scoring
record has lasted for a staggering 26 years. This is the number
that current Nigerian strikers look forward to match.
Top 10 Super Eagles top scorers in
history
Being a Super Eagle is a dream for many young and aspiring
footballers who have watched most of the iconic legends of Nigerian
football doing their thing many years ago.
In the attacking department, some players have distinguished
themselves to be goal-getters, etching their names on the list of
Nigeria all time top scorers.
Granted, most names on the list are well-known because of their
impressive goal-scoring records and popularity, but some names may
be of surprise to you, a true testament to why reading and
acquiring knowledge unlocks many hidden facts that you’re not aware
of.
With this in mind, here is the list of the top 10 Super Eagles
top scorers in history:
1. Rashidi Yekini – 37 goals
The leading Super Eagles top scorer in history is Rashidi Yekini
with 37 goals to his name.
Yekini of blessed memory is the only player to have scored more
than 30 times for the senior national team. He was part of the
Super Eagles from 1984 to 1998.
He helped Nigeria to win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON),
scoring five goals in that tournament. So crucial were Yekini’s
goals that he set the winning template by opening the scoring
against Zambia in the final.
Before AFCON 1994, Yekini was named African Footballer of the
Year in 1993 and was inducted into the Nigerian Sports Hall of Fame
for his contribution and achievement to the growth and glory of
Nigerian football.
2. Segun Odegbami – 23 goals
Retired Nigeria international Segun Odegbami was well known
during his time with the Super Eagles team. He ranks second in the
all-time highest goal-scorers list of all time and was fondly
called ‘Mathematical’ due to his knack for scoring goals.
Odegbami was capped 47 times in the national team and scored 23
goals, a big number to achieve internationally for any footballer
during his days.
He began his football career in the domestic scene with Shooting
Stars FC of Ibadan, and spent his entire professional career with
them.
While at the club, Odegbami won the 1976 African Cup Winners’
Cup and was an integral member of Nigeria’s golden generation that
set the pace for international recognition.
He starred in Otto Gloria’s 1980 Africa Cup of Nations
triumphant squad, the side that won Nigeria’s first AFCON
title.
Odegbami retired from football in 1984 after featuring 47 times
and scoring 23 goals for the national team.
As of 2024, he is still alive and well, seeing his name etched
in the annals of Nigeria’s football history.
3. Victor Osimhen – 21 goals
The 2023 AFCON qualifiers served as a pivotal period for
Victor
Osimhen who after bagging 10 goals in the qualies and one more
in the competition proper to take his tally to 21, now looks more
likely to break Yekini’s long-lasting record that has stood since
1998.
As the highest-scoring active member of the Super Eagles,
Osimhen made his debut for Nigeria on 10 June 2017, and has since
then bagged 21 goals in 35 appearances at a rate of 0.60 goals per
game.
At just 25, the 2023 African Footballer of the Year looks
destined to become Nigeria’s all-time top scorer.
4. Yakubu Ayegbeni – 21 goals
Yakubu Ayegbeni was Nigeria’s third top scorer for years before
Osimhen drew level in January 2024.
He began his professional football career with Nigerian side
Julius Berger in 1997 before securing a move to Maccabi Haifa
(Israel) in 1998.
Yakubu went on to play for several other clubs in England,
including the likes of Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton,
Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers.
Internationally, Yakubu represented Nigeria’s Super Eagles on 58
occasions, and found the back of the net 21 times.
‘The Yak’ was part of the Lars Lagerback Nigeria squad that
competed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the tournament that
ended his Super Eagles career, because why? Wait for it…
The player who missed an open net from a defence-splitting pass
from Ayila Yusuf against South Korea was none other than Yakubu
Ayegbeni. The Eagles crashed out in the group stage and many
Nigerians haven’t forgiven Ayegbeni ever since because of that
miss.
5. Ikechukwu Uche – 19 goals
Ikechukwu Uche (MON) is a former Nigerian footballer who played
as a striker for the Super Eagles.
Uche spent most of his football career in Spain. He played for a
couple of top teams like Getafe, Real Zaragoza, Villarreal, and
Malaga.
Internationally, he was particularly successful in scoring
during qualifying rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA
World Cup.
The 2013 AFCON winner bagged five goals in the World Cup
qualifiers, and seven in AFCON qualifiers and retired with 19 goals
in 46 games for Nigeria to clinch fifth in the all-time goal
scorers list.
6. Obafemi Martins – 18 goals
Obafemi ‘Obagoal’ Martins made his debut for Nigeria in 2004 at
the age of 19 in 2004 where he scored a goal in the tri-nations
Unity Cup tournament in London.
Martins was a part of the Nigeria squad that finished third at
the 2006 African Cup of Nations. He netted twice in the
competition, both coming against Senegal in the group phase.
Obagoal was an instant sensation at Newcastle shortly after
leaving Inter Milan in 2006, and he represented Nigeria in several
tournaments including the 2006 FIFA World Cup where the Eagles
crashed out in the Round of 16.
After a successful career in Europe, Martins retired in 2021
with 18 goals for his country in 42 matches.
7. Sunday Oyarekhua – 17 goals
Sunday Oyarekhua of blessed memory is one of the legendary
Nigerian players that wasn’t so popular. We’re certain that most
Nigerian fans haven’t heard about him. Nonetheless, he was a
prolific goal-scorer during his active years for Nigeria.
Discovered by the national team’s coaches while playing for the
Police F.C. in Lagos, he scored on his debut, a friendly match
against the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) in 1971.
He was the leading top scorer during the 1973 All-Africa Games
which Nigeria won, and he played for Nigeria at the 1976 Africa Cup
of Nations finals in Ethiopia.
Oyarekhua was most famous for scoring the winning goal against
Brazil in a friendly match in 1974, a game dubbed as “The Match of
the Century”.
Between 1971 and 1976, he scored 17 goals in 28 appearances.
Oyarekhua passed away in 2021.
8. Ahmed Musa – 16 goals
Coming in eighth-place in our top 10 Super Eagles highest goal
scorers in history is
Ahmed Musa.
It’s worth mentioning that Musa is the most capped Super Eagles
player in history with 107 matches under his belt.
He burst into the international scene as a striker for Kano
Pillars in 2010 when Lars Lagerback invited the Jos-born forward to
the Super Eagles FIFA World Cup squad of 2010.
Since his debut for the Super Eagles, Musa went on to win an
AFCON title in 2013 with Nigeria.
Not only that, he etched his name in the history of Nigeria’s
national football team when he became the first Nigerian to score
more than once in a FIFA World Cup match after scoring twice
against Argentina in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Musa also became the first Nigerian to score in two FIFA World
Cup competitions after scoring twice against Iceland in the group
stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
As of 2024, the former CSKA Moscow player has 16 goals for
Nigeria in 108 appearances, becoming the most capped player since
November 2021.
9. Odion Ighalo – 16 goals
Al-Wehda forward Odion Ighalo is one of three Super Eagles
players tied on 16 goals for Nigeria. But he has done so in 71
fewer matches than Ahmed Musa.
Following strong performances for Watford in England,
then-Nigeria interim coach Daniel Amokachi invited Ighalo to the
national team in 2015 and made his debut in 1-0 friendly home
defeat to Uganda.
Ighalo netted seven goals in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
qualification campaign, the most by any player at the time, to help
Nigeria qualify for the finals in Egypt later that year.
He was included in Gernot Rohr’s 2019 AFCON squad squad, taking
part in all the matches and finding the net on five occasions to
become the edition’s top scorer.
At the end of the competition, Ighalo announced his retirement
from international football to be among the Super Eagles all-time
highest goal scorers with 16 goals in 37 appearances.
10. Samson Siasia – 16 goals
Samson Siasia is popular as a former Super Eagles coach.
However, he had a successful playing career for the national team
and makes the top 10 list of Super Eagles all-time top scorers.
The Lagos-born former footballer found the back of the net 16
times in 51 appearances for the Super Eagles. A period that lasted
between 1984 to 1999 before his retirement.
Siasia was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA
World Cup, and won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations. He was also a
member of the Nigeria team that won bronze at the 1992 AFCON in
Senegal. The former Super Eagles coach participated in the national
team over a period of 15 years, and is recognized as one of the all
time leading top scorers of the national team.
Nigerian strikers in Europe
Nigeria has become a home to an ever-emerging crop of forwards
right now in world football.
In recent times, Super Eagles strikers are making their mark
across Europe’s top leagues with what looks like the birth of a new
golden generation for the national team.
Since the class of Atlanta 1996, Nigeria have struggled to
replicate the performances the national team was known for. But as
time heals all wounds, it seems the good-old-days are right around
the corner.
With the country so blessed attack-wise and in thirst for glory
especially after missing out on the 2023 AFCON title, there’s a
palpable feeling that with a good manager for the national team,
the country can return to its former status as a giant of African
football.
There’s a number of Nigerian names who started the 2023/24
season in strong form, raising optimism that the African nation can
challenge favourably in the next few years.
These Nigerians have taken their football to new heights in
Europe this season with the likes of Victor Boniface already
securing the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen.
The likes of Victor Osimhen, Terem Moffi, Cyril Dessers, Victor
Boniface, and Ademola Lookman have all bagged an incredible number
of goals this season.
With the way things have gone for Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen
in the Europa League this season, there’s a high chance that a
Nigerian striker will win a European trophy when it’s all said and
done this campaign.
Frequently Asked Questions about
Nigeria’s goal scorers
Who is Nigeria’s all-time highest goal scorer?
The all-time highest goal scorer for Nigeria is Rashidi Yekini with
37 goals.
Who is the Nigerian striker with the most AFCON
goals? Rashidi Yekini is Nigeria’s striker with the most
AFCON goals. He has 13 to his name.
Who ranks second in Super Eagles top scorers
list? Segun Odegbami holds second spot in Super Eagles top
scorers list with 23 goals under his belt.
Which Super Eagles player recorded the highest number of
goals in an AFCON qualifying campaign? Victor Osimhen
scored 10 goals during the 2023 AFCON qualifiers to become the
highest-scoring player for Nigeria in a single AFCON qualifying
campaign.
Which Super Eagles striker has scored more goals in
2023/24 season? The most-scoring Super Eagles striker in
the 2023/24 campaign is Victor Boniface with 18 goals at the time
of writing.
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