See the all-time highest goalscorers for Nigeria at the AFCON
1. Rashidi Yekini with 13 goals at AFCON
Nigeria’s all-time leading scorer is also the guy with the most goals at the African Championships, which is fitting.
Thirteen of Yekini’s 37 goals for the Super Eagles of Nigeria came throughout four Nations Cup tournaments.
The former Vitoria Setubal forward scored once in Morocco in 1988 and three times in Algeria in 1990, as Nigeria won silver medals in both games.
At Senegal ’92, the Eagles finished third, with Yekini confirming his title as the continent’s best marksman with four goals, thus claiming the top scorer’s trophy.
His last AFCON was his most glorious, as Yekini scored five goals and, again, reclaimed the highest goalscorer gong to help Nigeria emerge as champions at Tunisia ’94.
2. Austin Jay-Jay Okocha with seven goals at AFCON
Okocha was also a member of the winning squad in Tunisia in 1994, but he didn’t score his first Afcon goal until Ghana/Nigeria 2000.
Okocha then cemented his place among Africa’s greats by scoring four goals, becoming a joint-top scorer, and was awarded Tunisia’s Most Valuable Player in 2004.
3. Segun Odegbami and Julius Aghahowas with six goals each
In 1978, Ghana hosted and won the 11th edition of the AFCON, but Segun Odegbami left his mark on the event.
Deployed primarily as a winger, the Shooting Stars of Ibadan ace scored three goals in his first appearance in the tournament, assisting Nigeria to a bronze medal.
Odegbami repeated his three-goal feat two years later, and this time it was enough to secure the Eagles’ first-ever AFCON victory and propel him to this select list.
Nigeria’s squad at Ghana/Nigeria 2000 included experienced and accomplished forwards Nwankwo Kanu of Arsenal, Jonathan Akpoborie of Wolfsburg, Victor Ikpeba of Borussia Dortmund, and Benedict Akwuegbu of Grazer AK.
But it was Esperance’s young attacker Julius Aghahowa who stole the show with three magnificent goals, including the late brace that knocked Senegal out in the quarter-finals.
Nigeria finished third again in Mali in 2002, but Aghahowa had a wonderful tournament on an individual level.
He added three more goals to split the goal-king trophy with two others – Patrick Mboma and Salomon Olembé – and was named among the tournament’s best team.
4. Odion Ighalo, Muda Lawal and Peter Osaze Odemwingie with 5 goals each
Ighalo made his AFCON debut in Egypt 2019, but he proved he was no novice in front of goal, hitting the target five times to clinch the top scorer title despite the Super Eagles finishing third.
Similarly, Nigeria was one of the most interesting teams during the 1976 African Cup of Nations. The Green Eagles scored 11 goals, with Baba Otu Mohammed scoring three times and four other players, including Muda Lawal, scoring twice apiece.
Lawal would go on to play for the Green Eagles in four more AFCONs and contributed three more goals, becoming the continent’s first player to appear in five consecutive editions of the event.
After choosing to represent Nigeria at the international level, Odemwingie made his AFCON bow at Tunisia in 2004. He contributed five goals for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, appearing at two AFCONs in the flying colours of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
