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Asisat Oshoala
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Football · Super Falcons · No. 1

Asisat Oshoala

Six-time African Player of the Year: the girl from Ikorodu who conquered Europe.

  • 6African Player of the Year
  • 2021Champions League
  • 3World Cups with a goal
  • 4WAFCON titles

Ikorodu and a grandmother’s faith

Asisat Lamina Oshoala was born in Ikorodu, Lagos State, on 9 October 1994. Her parents did not want her to play football; she played in the streets with boys, backed by her grandmother. Her father only gave his blessing after the 2014 U-20 World Cup. She came through FC Robo and Rivers Angels.

Club career

Asisat Oshoala: club career
ClubYearsHighlights
Rivers Angels2013 to 2015Nigerian league 2014
Liverpool2015 to 2016First African in the English Women’s Super League
Arsenal2016 to 2017FA Cup 2016
Dalian Quanjian2017 to 2019Chinese champions; top scorer 2017
Barcelona2019 to 2024Champions League 2021 and 2023; Pichichi 2022
Bay FC (USA)2024 to 2025
Al Hilal2025 to date

For Nigeria

At the 2014 U-20 World Cup she won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot (7 goals). She scored at the 2015, 2019 and 2023 World Cups, the first African to score at three, and won African titles in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024.

Firsts

  • First African to score in a Women’s Champions League final (2019).
  • First African woman to win the Champions League (2021).
  • A record six CAF African Women’s Player of the Year awards (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023).
  • Her foundation runs the Football4Girls tournament in Lagos.

More Nigerian football

Quick answers

Asisat Oshoala: quick answers

How many times has Asisat Oshoala won African Player of the Year?

Six times: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023, a record.

Where is Asisat Oshoala from?

Ikorodu, Lagos State, where she was born on 9 October 1994.

Which club does Oshoala play for?

Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, since September 2025.