Nigerian striker Asisat Lamina Oshoala MON (born October 9, 1994) competes for both the Nigeria women’s national team and Spanish Liga F club FC Barcelona. She is regarded as one of the best female footballers in the world and one of the greatest African female footballers of all time. She has won the African Women’s Footballer of the Year award a record five times.
Asisat has previously played for the Nigerian club Rivers Angels and FC Robo, the Chinese club Dailan, and the English clubs Arsenal and Liverpool. She won the 2015 FA Women’s Cup with Arsenal, two league titles, a cup, and the 2019–20 Copa de la Reina and 2019–20 Supercopa de Espaa Femenina with Barcelona.
She also won the 2015 FA Women’s Cup with Dalian. She helped Barcelona advance to the semifinals in three straight seasons and one final.
She was the first African (and Nigerian) player to score in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final. After Barcelona defeated Chelsea 4-0 in the championship match, Asisat became the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League on May 16, 2021.
She made history by becoming the first African woman to win the Pichichi Trophy in the following season and to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or for the first time in August 2022.
At the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, Asisat scored the most goals and was named the best player. She was also named the Super Falcons team’s best player and second-leading scorer during the 2014 African Women’s Championship.
Oshoala received the Order of the Niger designation in September 2014 from Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. She was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2021. She is known as “Agba Baller,” which is slang for “Legendary Footballer” in her native language.
Recently, Oshoala amassed the most goals in the women’s Spanish league with 20 goals in 19 league appearances. She was given the golden boot for this accomplishment.
Written by: Adekunle Adeniyi