The year 2024 has been an unforgettable one for Nigerian football, with several Super Eagles players leaving indelible marks both at their clubs and on the international stage. From remarkable goals to historic achievements, these players have consistently delivered stellar performances, earning accolades and admiration worldwide.
In this piece, Completesports.com’s AUGUSTINE AKHILOMEN celebrates 12 exceptional Super Eagles players who stood out with their contributions in 2024, showcasing their brilliance and impact in a truly memorable footballing year.
1. Ademola Lookman (Atalanta, Italy)
The reigning African Player of the Year will never forget 2024 in a hurry after leading Atalanta to win the Europa League, scoring a brilliant hat-trick in the final. He also played a huge role in helping the Super Eagles reach the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which the team narrowly lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast.
He scored both goals in the last-16 victory over Cameroon and then the winner against Angola in the quarter-finals.
He’s the only African in this year’s Ballon d’Or list, ultimately finishing 14th in the world’s best footballers ranking.
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Interestingly, Lookman scored 17 goals and contributed 10 assists in 45 games across all competitions for Atalanta in the 2023-24 season. He has made a similarly productive start to this campaign, finding the net 12 times in 20 games as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team sits two points clear of Napoli at the summit of Serie A.
He has made 2024 his own and will never forget this feat in his entire football career.
2. Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray, Turkey)
His arrival in the Turkish League has seen him make a positive start to life at Galatasaray.
The Nigeria international, who left Napoli this summer after falling out with manager Antonio Conte, has rediscovered his goal-scoring form for the Turkish giants, netting nine goals and bagging three assists in 11 league appearances to help the club sit at the top of the league.
Osimhen was part of the Super Eagles squad that reached the final of the 2023 AFCON, where Nigeria lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast.
He also played an instrumental role as the Super Eagles qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Osimhen scored the equalising goal against Benin that sealed Nigeria’s qualification for the tournament and tied Segun Odegbami’s record of 23 goals to become Nigeria’s joint-second all-time top scorer.
3. Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)
Boniface had a sterling performance for Bayer Leverkusen in 2024, helping the team dethrone Bayern Munich as champions of the Bundesliga for the first time.
The Nigeria international netted 14 goals in 23 league games as Leverkusen maintained an unbeaten record.
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In the ongoing 2024-2025 season, Boniface has scored six goals in 10 appearances for Leverkusen.
He’s yet to translate his impressive club form to the Super Eagles, as he struggled to score goals in the just-concluded 2025 AFCON qualifiers. However, Boniface has shown a glimmer of hope that the goals will come soon.
4. Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest, England)
Regarded as one of the best left full-backs in the Premier League by Arsenal legend Ian Wright, Ola Aina’s spectacular display in the colours of Nottingham Forest this season has seen the team sit fourth in the Premier League table.
He has made 17 appearances for Nottingham Forest, scoring two goals this ongoing season.
Aina’s stunning strike in Forest’s 3-0 win over West Ham United at the City Ground on the 2nd of November was voted by the club’s supporters as the best for the month (November).
A regular for the Super Eagles, Aina showed great solidity and attacking prowess at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
He also played a key role as the Super Eagles qualified for the 2025 AFCON.
5. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England)
Leicester City’s return to the Premier League will not be complete without mentioning the name of Ndidi, as he played an integral role in ensuring the team won the Championship.
He scored four times and bagged five assists in 32 appearances in the 2023-2024 season.
Currently in the Premier League, Ndidi has made 15 appearances, bagging four assists for Leicester City as they sit 17th on the league table.
Read Also: Osimhen Credits Galatasaray Teammates For Impressive Scoring Form
Missing out on the 2023 AFCON due to injury, Ndidi’s return to the Super Eagles saw him show great solidity in the defensive midfield position as Nigeria qualified for the 2025 AFCON.
6. Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa)
Nwabali was a revelation for the Super Eagles at the 2022 AFCON, where he was outstanding in all the games he played for the team.
After keeping his fourth clean sheet against the Angolans, the 27-year-old became the first Eagles goalkeeper to keep four consecutive clean sheets in a major tournament in 44 years, surpassing Alloy Agu’s three games in a row in 1990.
At Chippa United, Nwabali has made 10 appearances and received one yellow card this season.
7. William Troost-Ekong (Al Kholood, Saudi Arabia)
2024 will be a year to remember for Troost-Ekong after he was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2023 AFCON.
Few players have led with such confidence, panache, and fearlessness on the field as the former Watford man. To add to his growing legendary status, his goal against South Africa took his tally to four, equalling a 32-year-old record for a Nigerian defender held by the legendary Stephen Keshi.
He almost single-handedly won the final of the AFCON for the Super Eagles when he scored the opening goal against Ivory Coast before a second-half goal from the hosts denied Nigeria victory.
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Troost-Ekong won the Super League Cup with PAOK Salonica just a few weeks after the Nations Cup.
In all, the 30-year-old made 10 league appearances for the Whites and Blacks at the end of the season before joining Saudi Arabian club Al Kholood this summer.
At Al Kholood, the Nigerian defender has made 10 appearances, scoring one goal this ongoing season.
He was also key as Nigeria qualified for the 2025 AFCON.
8. Alex Iwobi (Fulham, England)
Iwobi’s contributions for Fulham in the Premier League have not gone unnoticed after equalling his season’s goal tally of five.
With just 17 games played this ongoing season, the Nigerian international has netted five goals and provided three assists.
He has also made a positive impact with the Super Eagles, helping the team qualify for the 2025 AFCON.
9. Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium)
Onyedika was a key factor for Club Brugge as they won the Belgian League title in May 2024.
The Nigerian international had an impressive three goals in 30 appearances at the end of the 2023–2024 season for Club Brugge.
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Currently, he has scored one goal and provided one assist in 16 appearances for the club this ongoing season.
His impact on the Super Eagles at the 2023 AFCON was solid despite Nigeria’s failure to win the final against Ivory Coast.
10. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Lazio, Italy)
A revelation of 2024, Dele-Bashiru came into the spotlight after scoring against South Africa in the Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In all, he has scored two goals in six appearances for Nigeria.
Since then, Dele-Bashiru sealed a move from Hatayspor to join Lazio this summer, where he has made eight appearances and netted one goal in Serie A.
11. Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Italy)
Chukwueze started the year on a shaky note for both club and country before making a steady rise with some positive impact for the Super Eagles and AC Milan.
The Nigerian international, who scored a beautiful solo goal against Rwanda in Nigeria’s final group game of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, has been a joy to watch for AC Milan.
He has made 16 appearances and scored one goal for Milan this ongoing season.
12. Tolu Arokodare (Genk, Belgium)
Arokodare has been superb for KRC Genk in Belgium, scoring 11 goals in 19 league games this season.
Yet to receive a call-up to the Super Eagles, Arokodare has established himself as one of the finest strikers in Europe.
8 Comments
Boniface.
We can all agree that he’s Boni-fantastic for Leverkusen.
But for Nigeria, some fans have written him off as Boni-nonsense, Boni-useless, Boni-yeye.
Seems a tad unserious when he’s in the Nigeria jersey, compared to the businesslike attitude he shows when playing for Leverkusen.
Excessive social media presence is perhaps not helping him as well. Joking up and down with comedians and skit makers, especially while in Nigeria for international matches, perhaps makes him lose concentration and focus.
We hope he soon replicates his Leverkusen form for the SE. if he does that, it will be a huge plus for Nigeria, as we urgently need reliable goal scorers to assist Osimhen at this time.
Hahahaha. Well captured. The dude doesn’t really give a hoot if he scores or not for Nigeria, unlike the business-like attitude of Osmihen and Ademola.
Boniface has a similar attitude to Francis Uzoho, who can’t take criticism and will rather hit back at fans and tell them to go hug transformer. Well, Francis has been excused from the team for now.
Funny, Boni thought he should be on the shortlist of APOTY cos Leverkusen won the league. Nigerians don’t even think he deserves a nomination.
Come March, the new coach should go beyond talent and club form and look for players ready to give it all in the field of play come. Passion trumps talent.
Hey Pompei
Always enjoy your posts.
Boniface has the potential to be unstoppable for Super Eagles, but when he comes back to play and don the GWG for Nigeria, he has lately seemed off the pace, unable or unwilling to fight and hustle
I was so keen to see him lead the line for SE vs Rwanda in the last afcon qualifiers, what I witnessed surprised me.
The Rwanda defence easily passed around him, he looked lost.
Most worrying of all, he didn’t appear to want to show how he should be the undisputed alternative to Osimhen.
No energy at all and in my eyes, he could do with losing some weight.
With respect to his dalliances with the naija Social media and entertainment world, I wouldn’t mind as long as he produced the goods for SE, but after 11 games no goals or assists.
With the current perilous state of SE, WC qual chances, and no more room for mistakes, I think an emergency use of Fisayo Dele Bisharu upfront might be something to consider, if for any reason Osimhen is unavailable.
Or one of Elijah Adebayo, Tolu Arokodare etc might be worth a quick look at, if no new names come to the fore
Chukwueze won’t make top 20!
Moses Simon should be among the top 5. His contributions for club and country are highly impressive.
Top 10
1. Lookman
2. Osimhen
3. Aina
4. Simon
5. Fisayo
6. Nwabali
7. Iwobi
8. Onyedika
9. Ndidi
10. Tolu
11. Bassey
12. Osho
13. Balogun
14. Ogbu
15. Onyeka
16. Hamzat
17. Maja
18. Aribo
19. Christantus
20. Ekong.
Ha, let me correct myself before they find me.
Yes, those ones who go through other pipo’s post with a fine toothcomb, looking for mistakes, without contributing anything meaningful themselves.
I meant to say we urgently need reliable goalscorers to assist Osimhem AND LOOKMAN, who has been a super reliable source of goals and assists for us. A big blunder like this went unnoticed. Quite unusual. Normally, even a spelling mistake they won’t allow to go by.
Dis playerz are veri gud. Nigeria is blessed 4 hafin kwality futbolers.
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