Nigeria has produced some of the best strikers out of Africa and Europe. While representing the national team, these strikers have scored an impressive number of goals. Check out super Eagles all time top scorers list;
1. Rashidi Yekini
With 37 goals, Rashidi Yekini is the player with the highest number of goals for Nigeria. He played for the Super Eagles from 1984 to 1998 and his 37 goals came in 58 appearances. He has a 0.63 goal average. Yekini got his first goal for Nigeria in 1985 against Kenya. Notably, he scored Nigeria’s first World Cup goal against Bulgaria in 1994. His last goal was in 1998 against Jamaica in a friendly game. In his entire career, Rashidi Yekini scored 164 goals in 253 appearances.
2. Segun Odegbami
Segun Odegbami is not very popular in the eyes of Nigerian football lovers. However, the player has the second highest number of goals for the Super Eagles with 23 goals in 46 appearances. His time with the Nigerian national team was from 1976 to 1982. Odegbami spent his entire career in Nigeria playing for Shooting Stars. Mathematical, as he’s also called, helped Nigeria win her first African cup of nations trophy in 1980. He was joint top scorer in the competition and was listed in the team of the tournament.
3. Yakubu
Yakubu played for the Super Eagles for 12 years, 2000 to 2012. Within that period, he appeared in 57 matches and scored 21 goals. That makes him number 3 on the list of Super Eagles all time goal scorers. AKA The Yak, his first goal came in 2001 in an AFCON qualification match against Namibia. He scored a double in the next qualification match and helped Nigeria reach 3rd place in the AFCON. Yakubu scored his last goal for Nigeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
4. Ikechukwu Uche
2007 was the year Ikechukwu Uche played his debut for Nigeria. The player will go on to score 19 goals for the Super Eagles in 46 games. His first goal against Lesotho in 2007 was instrumental in helping Nigeria qualify for the 2008 AFCON competition. He also helped Nigeria qualify for the 2010 World Cup scoring in qualifiers against South Africa twice, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya. Ikechukwu Uche scored his last goal in an AFCON qualifier as well against Congo. He can still be called up to the squad.
5. Obafemi Martins
At number 5, we have Obafemi Martins, AKA ObaGoal. The player who started for the Super Eagles at just age 19 has scored 18 goals after 48 appearances. He scored in his debut against the Republic of Ireland and his second goal was on Nigerian soil – th National Stadium Abuja – against Rwanda. That year, he won the CAF Most Promising Talent, an award which he also won the previous year. 2005 was his best year for the Super Eagles as he scored 6 goals in 5 appearances.
Read Also: Nigeria Top Scorers In The FIFA World Cup
6. Sunday Oyarekhua
Sunday Oyarekhua has an interesting entry into the Nigeria first eleven. He played for the Super Eagles from 1971 to 1976 and scored 23 goals in 46 games. He’s one of the earliest Nigerian players recorded in history. Sunday was chosen to play for Nigeria after his immense performance in several matches as a Police FC player in Lagos. The player helped Nigeria win the All African Games in 1973. He was the top scorer in the competition. He was also part of the National team that finished third in the 1976 AFCON.
7. Samson Sia Sia
Samson Sia Sia is a popular name among Nigerian football lovers. The striker played for Nigeria and went on to coach the Super Eagles after retirement. Samson Sia Sia found the net 16 times in 51 games while wearing the Nigerian jersey. He has a 0.31 goals average. Samson Sia Sia helped Nigeria win the AFCON trophy in 1994. Notably, he missed being part of the Nigeria Dream Team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics football tournament.
8. Odion Ighalo
Odion Ighalo retired internationally in 2019 after the AFCON tournament. He first played for the Super Eagles in 2015 and in just about 4 years, he scored 16 goals in 37 appearances. Ighalo brought out his best in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers. He found the net 7 times which is the most by any player. The player would go on to win the bronze medal at the AFCON tournament later in the year. He scored 4 goals in the main tournament – in the group stage, round of 16, semi-finals, and in the third-place playoffs.
9. Julius Aghahowa
Julius featured in games for the Nigerian team from 2000 to 2007. Within this period, the striker scored 14 goals in 32 games making him the 9th highest goal scorer for the Super Eagles. You’ll remember his famous backflips in 2002 after scoring against Sweden in the World Cup. That was the only goal Nigeria got in that World Cup. 2002 was also his overall best year as he scored 7 times in 12 games.
10. Jay Jay Okocha
At number 10, we have Jay Jay Okocha which is natural as it’s the number on his jersey. Okocha who is undoubtedly one of the greatest African footballers in history made his debut for the Super Eagles in 1993 and played until 2006. He appeared in 75 games and scored 14 goals whilst playing as a midfielder. Okocha won the hearts of Nigerians in his second appearance for the Super Eagles vs Algeria. He won the AFCON with Nigeria in 1994 and went on to win the Olympics Gold in 1996.
Bottom Line
Nigeria has been and continues to be a bedrock of footballing talents. Most of the strikers on this list are the best Africa has seen and they showed their talents to the world while wearing the Nigerian Green or White jersey.