Top 10 Super Eagles all-time top scorers

Of all the superstars to have donned the famous green and white of the Nigerian national team, here are the 10 Super Eagles stars who make it to the all-time top scorers chart:

One of only three active players in the Super Eagles all-time top scorers list, Victor Osimhen has scored 15 goals in 22 games for Nigeria since making his debut in 2017 and has the best goal ratio in the nation’s history.

Osimhen still has a long way to go in matching or breaking the all-time record but the 23-year-old has plenty of time to achieve that feat, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Current Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa is Nigerian football royalty, not only is he the most capped Super Eagles player in Nigerian football, he is also joint-ninth on the all-time top scorers’ list.

The 29-year-old winger has scored 16 goals in 107 games since debuting for Nigeria in 2010 and he still has time to add to that tally.

Al Hilal striker Odion Ighalo is another one of three players tied on 16 goals for the Super Eagles but he has done so in 70 fewer games than Ahmed Musa.

Ighalo has netted 16 goals in 37 appearances for the Super Eagles since debuting in 2015. This is an impressive achievement that may yet be improved upon as he has not officially hung up his boots with the Nigerian football team.

Super Eagles legend Samson Siasia would go on to be more prominent for his national team involvement as a coach multiple times but he had a great playing career as well.

The striker found the net 16 times in 51 appearances for the Super Eagles between 1984 and 1999 when he hung up his boots.

Little-known Sunday Oyarekhua bagged 17 goals in 28 games for the Nigeria national football team when they were still called the “Green Eagles” between 1971 and 1976.

However, his colleagues, ex-teammates and the few fans who watched him play have done their best to communicate just how good the late ‘Sunny’ was.

Oyarekhua retired from the Nigerian national team in 1976 as the Super Eagles top scorer until Segun Odegbami took over from where he stopped.

Obafemi Martins is one the very best strikers to have represented the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the numbers prove it to be so.

The former Inter Milan striker fondly called ‘Obagoal’ scored 18 goals in 48 appearances for the Super Eagles from 2004 to 2015. His pace, mobility and athleticism were the defining features of his career.

Ikechukwu Uche spent eight years in the Super Eagles setup, establishing himself as a clutch performer and reliable player for the Nigerian national team.

The diminutive football striker scored 19 goals in 46 games between 2007 and 2015 for the Super Eagles after which he called it quits internationally.

Unfortunately, more people remember that open goal miss against South Korea at the 2010 World Cup more than the fact that Yakubu Aiyegbeni is the third all-time top scorer in Super Eagles history.

A certified goal machine and ice-cold finisher (except for that one time) Yakubu scored 21 goals in 57 games for Nigeria between 2000 and 2012.

Viewed by many as the first true superstar of Nigerian football, Segun Odegbami was just as prolific as he was fun to watch.

The ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami scored 23 goals in 46 games for the Nigerian national team within a shorter period of time compared to the rest of the top ten. His national team career lasted from 1976 to 1982.

The identity of number one is the worst kept secret, even infants are aware of the late great Rashidi Yekini and his prowess for the Super Eagles.

Yekini is by far and away Nigeria’s all-time leading top scorer with 37 goals, at least 14 more than anyone else so far and many believe his record will remain unbroken.

Rashidi Yekini scored 37 goals in 58 games at an impressive ratio of 0.63 goals per game. This is the bar which every Nigerian footballer looks up to since Yekini retired from the Nigerian national team in 1998 having debuted in 1984.