Asisat Oshoala
Asisat Lamina Oshoala MON (born 9 October 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for NWSL club Bay FC and the Nigeria women's national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest African female footballers of all time and one of the best in the world, she is one of the most celebrated African female footballers of all time, having won African Women's Footballer of the Year a record six times.
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Oshoala with Barcelona in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Asisat Lamina Oshoala | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 9 October 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ikorodu, Nigeria | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Bay FC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Robo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Robo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Rivers Angels | (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Liverpool | 9 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Arsenal | 11 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Dalian Quanjian | 20 | (23) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | → Barcelona (loan) | 7 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2024 | Barcelona | 101 | (85) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Bay FC | 1 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010-2014 | Nigeria U20 | 11 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013– | Nigeria | 61 | (37) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 March 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 October 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Asisat previously played for English clubs Arsenal and Liverpool, Chinese club Dailan, and Nigerian clubs Rivers Angels and FC Robo. She won the 2015 FA Women's Cup with Arsenal; two league championships and a cup title with Dalian; and the 2019–20 Copa de la Reina and 2019–20 Supercopa de España Femenina with Barcelona. She was the first African player to score a goal in a UEFA Women's Champions League final and has helped Barcelona reach the semi-finals for three consecutive years, and one final. On 16 May 2021, Asisat became the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League, after Barcelona defeated Chelsea 4–0 in the finals. The following season, she became the first African woman to win the Primera División's Pichichi Trophy, and in August 2022 became the first African woman nominated to the Ballon d'Or.
Asisat was the highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and was named the best player at the tournament. She was also named best player and second top goal scorer with the Super Falcons team who won the 2014 African Women's Championship.
In September 2014, Oshoala was made a Member of the Order of the Niger by President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan. In 2021, she was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30. She is popularly called “Àgba Baller”, which means in her local parlance, “Legendary Footballer”.
In July 2023, after her group stage heroics against Australia in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Oshoala saw a massive increase in her Instagram followership which made her become the first African female footballer to have a million followers on the social media platform. Asisat Oshoala, has earned a well-deserved nomination for the esteemed 2023 Ballon d’Or Award
France Football, the official organizer of the award, disclosed this exciting news through its verified Twitter account on July 7.
Oshoala stands as a nominee in the Socrates Award category, a recognition dedicated to applauding remarkable solidarity initiatives undertaken by football champions. Among the five exceptional individuals chosen for the award, Oshoala nomination adds to her impressive achievements, aligning her with the legacy of the iconic Brazilian footballer, Socrates, for whom the award is named after and was inaugurated just last year.