Asisat Oshoala (Profile), Best African Female Footballer

Asisat Oshoala

Only a few in Nigeria and the continent at large have contributed to International Women’s Football as much as Asisat Oshoala. Being a woman in a sport like football comes with its own challenges, however, Oshoala continues to defy all odds through her resilience, talent and skill by excelling in the sport and changing the narrative in women’s football, thereby putting Nigerian (and African) female footballers on the global map. From winning the Nigerian Women’s Cup to winning the La Liga League and UEFA Women’s Champions League twice in a row, the achievements of the football player stands her out as one who cannot be overlooked in national and global reckoning. 

Quick Facts about Asisat

Name: Asisat Oshoala
Date of Birth: October 9, 1994
Place of Birth: Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria.
Height: 5ft.8in. / 1.73m
Educational Level: Secondary School
Marital Status: Single
Children: One (1) Daughter
Current Net Worth: 50 Million Euro

Asisat Oshoala, dubbed as one of the greatest female footballers from Africa, is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for Barcelona Femini in Spain. Oshoala had her primary education at Air Force Primary School, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria before proceeding to Aunty Ayo International School, Ikoyi for her secondary education. She is an avid lover of sports whose interest in active sport can be traced to her early years where she represented her school in a number of track and field competitions before switching to football which she enjoyed playing with the boys in her class. Although now in full support of her football career, Oshoala revealed her parents were against her passion for football initially.

Prior to joining Barcelona, Oshoala had made impressive records across Africa, Europe and Asia as an exceptional striker and a goal-scorer. She began her professional career in the world of football at the age of 14 in 2009 where she played for a Lagos-based Women’s football club called FC Robo before proceeding to join, Rivers Angels in Port Harcourt where she won her first professional trophy; The Nigeria Women’s Cup in 2013 and the Double of the Women’s league and cup in 2014. Then, in 2015, she moved to England to continue her career internationally.  She joined the England’s Women’s Super League, Liverpool. As a professional footballer, Oshoala is recognised and celebrated for her speed, strength, skill and goal scoring ability. Liverpool’s club manager at the time, Matt Beard regarded her as “one of the best young players in the world.”

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In 2016, she moved to London to play for Arsenal. While there, Oshoala assisted the club with winning the 2016 FA Women’s Cup. Then she proceeded to China after spending a season with Arsenal to join Dalian Quanjian, helping them win the league title for  two consecutive seasons, including the Women’s Supercup and the league’s Golden Boot Award.

Oshoala has been recognised and awarded for her skills, some of the several awards include Africa’s Women’s Footballer of the year – an award which she has won five times and the Pichichi League Top Scorer award. She also assisted her club, Barcelona Femini with winning the Liga F, UEFA Women’s Champions League, Supercopa de Espana Feminina and the Copa de la Reina. She received the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award in 2015.

Her outstanding performance on the pitch gave her the opportunity as the first African Woman to be nominated to the Ballon d’OR in August 2022. She was named by Forbes Africa in the “30 under 30” list in 2020 with an estimated net worth of 50 million in 2023. At the national level, Oshoala represented Nigeria at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and scored a goal against South Korea which was later nominated for Goal of the Tournament by FIFA.

In age-grade football, Oshoala represented the Super Falcons at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014 and finished the tournament with both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball. Oshoala has also contributed to Nigeria’s three victories in the Women’s AFCON, formerly the African Women’s Championship, in 2014, 2016, and 2018.

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Oshoala currently plays for Barcelona Femini in Spain, she has made 89 appearances since her signing and scored 83 impressive goals for the club. Following her passion for football and African women, Oshoala founded Asisat Oshoala Foundation in 2019 with the aim to empower female footballers across Africa. The foundation is responsible for organising the Asisat Oshoala Foundation Football4girls competition every year in Lagos State. 

She is also a Nike ambassador and mother to her lovely daughter.