Four Super Falcons Stars Named in The Guardian’s 2025 Top 100 Female Footballers

Nigeria’s dominance in African women’s football has once again been recognised on the global stage, with four Super Falcons stars earning places in The Guardian’s prestigious 2025 list of the world’s top 100 female footballers.

Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie headlines the Nigerian contingent, returning to the rankings at 65th after a spectacular year for club and country.

Nnadozie produced one of her finest seasons yet, delivering 11 clean sheets for Paris FC before sealing a major move to Brighton & Hove Albion.

She was also instrumental in Nigeria’s WAFCON 2025 triumph, winning the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

Her historic rise continued off the pitch as well, becoming the first African women’s goalkeeper ever to finish in the top four of the Yashin Trophy voting.

Fresh off her transfer to PSG, Rasheedat Ajibade enters the global top 100 for the first time at 79th.

The forward shone for Atlético Madrid last season and captained Nigeria to their latest continental title. Her influence was undeniable: Ajibade scored the decisive semi-final winner and was named Player of the Tournament at the 2025 WAFCON.

Two other Super Falcons players made the list in the lower bracket:

Gift Monday – 97th

The lively attacker impressed in her debut NWSL season with the Washington Spirit, showcasing pace, versatility and big-game reliability.

Esther Okoronkwo – 98th

The AFC Toronto star becomes the first Northern Super League player ever featured in the ranking. Okoronkwo delivered goals, assists and a man-of-the-match performance in Nigeria’s WAFCON final win over Morocco.

The Super Falcons have now produced at least one entrant in every edition of the list since 2017, one of the strongest and most consistent showings by any African nation.

While Asisat Oshoala misses out this year, she remains Nigeria’s most celebrated representative with eight consecutive appearances in previous rankings.

Other African stars included in the 2025 list are:

Barbra Banda (Zambia) – 14th

Ghizlane Chebbak (Morocco) – 74th

The Guardian’s annual Top 100 is curated by a global panel of journalists, coaches and analysts, who evaluate hundreds of players before compiling the final list.

Samuel Ahmadu

Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. On the back of domestic engagement since 2008, he began his international career journey at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.

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