Victor Osimhen is poised to shatter Rashidi Yekini’s record as the Super Eagles’ all-time leading scorer, but who else makes the list?
Nigeria, as one of the best football nations in Africa, has a long history of producing world-class football talent, many of whom have played for the national side.
Here are the top ten Super Eagles all-time goal scorers who have worn the famed green and white of the Nigerian national team.
10. Ahmed Musa
Current Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa is Nigerian football royalty; he is not only the most capped Super Eagles player in Nigerian football, but he is also the tenth top goalscorer in Super Eagles history.
Since making his debut for Nigeria in 2010, the 30-year-old winger has scored 16 goals in 107 games, and he still has time to add to that total.
9. Odion Ighalo
Odion Ighalo of Al Hilal is another of three players with 16 goals for the Super Eagles, but he has done so in 70 fewer games than Ahmed Musa.
Ighalo is one of the Super Eagles’ all-time leading scorers, having scored 16 goals in 37 matches since his debut in 2015. This is an outstanding accomplishment that may yet be improved upon because he has not officially retired from the Nigerian football team.
8. Samson Siasia
Samson Siasia, a Super Eagles icon, is best known for his several national team coaching stints, but he also had a successful playing career.
The striker scored 16 goals in 51 games for the Super Eagles between 1984 and 1999, putting him joint eighth on the list of the Top 10 Super Eagles all-time goal scorers.
7. Sunday Oyarekhua
Little-known Sunday Oyarekhua scored 17 goals in 28 games for Nigeria when they were still known as the “Green Eagles” between 1971 and 1976.
His colleagues, ex-teammates, and the few fans who saw him play have all done their best to convey how good the late ‘Sunny’ was.
Oyarekhua withdrew from the Nigerian national team in 1976 as the Super Eagles’ all-time leading goalscorer, a position he held until Segun Odegbami took over.
6. Obafemi Martins
Obafemi Martins is one of the top attackers to have ever represented Nigeria’s Super Eagles, as evidenced by his ranking as the Super Eagles’ fifth all-time leading goalscorer.
From 2004 until 2015, the former Inter Milan striker known as ‘Obagoal’ scored 18 goals in 48 appearances for the Super Eagles. His career was defined by his speed, mobility, and athleticism.
5. Ikechukwu Uche
Ikechukwu Uche spent eight years with the Super Eagles, establishing himself as a clutch performance and trustworthy player for the Nigerian national team. He retired as the Super Eagles’ fourth all-time leading goalscorer.
Between 2007 and 2015, the small football striker scored 19 goals in 46 outings for the Super Eagles before retiring from international play.
4. Victor Osimhen
Victor Osimhen is the current Super Eagles superstar and many people believe he will overtake the late great Rashidi Yekini as Nigeria’s all-time leading scorer.
Osimhen has now scored 20 goals in 27 Nigerian appearances, including a hat-trick in a 6-0 hammering of Sao Tome and Principe on September 10, 2023.
He is now 17 goals behind Yekini, but with his entire career ahead of him and having covered so much mileage in such a short period of time, it only makes sense that he will be rising up this list very soon.
3. Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Unfortunately, more people remember Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s open goal miss against South Korea in the 2010 World Cup than the fact that he is the Super Eagles’ third all-time leading scorer.
Yakubu, a certified goal machine and ice-cold finisher (save for that one occasion), scored 21 goals in 57 Nigerian games between 2000 and 2012.
2. Segun Odegbami
Many consider Segun Odegbami to be Nigeria’s first true superstar, and he was as prolific as he was entertaining to watch.
The ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami scored 23 goals in 46 games for the Nigerian national team in less time than the rest of the top 10. From 1976 until 1982, he was a member of the national team.
1. Rashidi Yekini
Even infants are aware of the late great Rashidi Yekini and his skill for the Super Eagles, making the identity of number one the worst kept secret.
Yekini is Nigeria’s all-time leading top scorer with 37 goals, at least 14 more than anybody else, and many feel his record will remain unbroken as he sits atop the list of Super Eagles all-time top scorers.
Rashidi Yekini scored 37 goals in 58 games for an excellent 0.63 goals per game ratio. Since Yekini resigned from the Nigerian national team in 1998 after making his debut in 1984, this is the standard that every Nigerian footballer strives to meet.
