Asisat Oshoala
Forward · Al Hilal · Nigeria
About Asisat Oshoala
A powerful, direct left-footed forward, Asisat Oshoala won two Champions Leagues with Barcelona before taking her goals to Saudi club Al Hilal in 2025.
Asisat Oshoala's story
Lagos to the World
Born on 9 October 1994 in Ikorodu, Lagos, one of seven children from her father's two marriages. She played with boys on streets and beaches, then began as a defensive midfielder at FC Robo, nicknamed "Seedorf". Her parents opposed football. She won them round after her 2014 U-20 World Cup, where Nigeria were runners-up and she took both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot.
People Who Shaped Her
Farid Benstiti, her coach at Dalian Quanjian, is the mentor she names most, saying he "was like a father" to her. He recalls giving her "no favours in training" and still calls her part of his family. In 2021 she told FIFA's Playon podcast that 2Baba's "Ifana Ibaga" topped her playlist through a hard early stretch.
England and China
Signed for Liverpool in January 2015, then moved to Arsenal in 2016. In February 2017 she joined Dalian Quanjian in China, won the league and finished as the Chinese Super League's top scorer in 2017.
Barcelona's Africa Queen
Joined Barcelona on loan in January 2019 and permanently that May. She won five Liga F titles, two Champions Leagues (2020-21, 2022-23) and finished 2021-22 as the league's top scorer. Over five years she scored 115 goals in 160 games, fourth on the club's all-time list.
Honours and Al Hilal
BBC Women's Footballer of the Year in 2015. She joined Bay FC in the NWSL in 2024 and signed for Al Hilal on 2 September 2025 on a deal to 2027. She also holds four continental titles with Nigeria (2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024).
Did you know?
- 🏆 Oshoala has won the African Women's Footballer of the Year award a record six times, in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
- ⭐ In May 2021 she became the first African woman to win the UEFA Women's Champions League, as Barcelona beat Chelsea in the final.
- 👨👩👧👦 She is one of seven children from her father's two wives. Her older brother Abdulbasic told AFP she "refused to give up her dream", and she later bought her mother a house in the old part of Lagos.
- 🏟️ In 2023 she became the first Nigerian to score at three consecutive Women's World Cups, and the first African to score at three different World Cups.
- 💇♀️ Barcelona team-mates call her "Superzee", and she told the club's website she dyes her hair whenever she sees a colour she likes.
- 🥅 In May 2019 she became the first African woman to score in a European Cup final, in Barcelona's 4-1 defeat by Lyon in Budapest.
- 🚫 She has refused sponsorship from betting companies because children look up to her, she told Sky Sports in March 2025.
- 🤝 In October 2025 she was named a CAF Goodwill Ambassador, and she is also an ambassador for the GSMA mobile industry body. Her own foundation works only with girls.
- 🌍 Her 16 Women's Africa Cup of Nations goals leave her second on the all-time list, behind Nigeria's Perpetua Nkwocha on 34.
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