The best Nigerian football players of all time

We have decided to recall some of these formidable players via the list of the top eight most remarkable Nigerian footballers of all time, with the support of the experts at bettingtips4you. Nigeria is home to more than 200 million people, the vast majority of whom are passionate football fans.

Of course, it is very difficult to objectively rate the players in such a competitive list. You may have a different opinion but this is what we've come up with, taking the players' global popularity as well as the contribution to the national team's successes into consideration.

8 – Sunday Oliseh

Sunday Oliseh is still considered one of the best African defensive midfielders of all time. He wore the shirts of European heavyweights like Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, and Juventus in his rich playing career. The Nigerians will never forget his winning goal against Spain in the group phase of the 1998 World Cup in France, a victory still remembered as one of the greatest in the national team’s history. After scoring three goals in 63 appearances for Nigeria, Oliseh retired from international football in June 2002. He is currently trying to build a reputation in the managerial waters but without much success. Sunday was fired from German lower-division club SV 19 Straelen after losing all five matches in charge.

7 – Vincent Enyeama

We had to find a place for one of the best African goalkeepers in the history of the game. Despite lacking the height required for a top-notch keeper, Vincent left a deep mark in both European football as well as in his national team. Enyeama spent most of his career defending the colours of Lille in French Ligue 1. Interestingly, he has been the primary penalty-kick taker for Hapoel Tel Aviv during his time in Israel. Enyeama is the second most-capped player in the history of the Nigerian national team, accruing 101 appearances from 2002 to 2015.

6 – Taribo West

Known for his extraordinary hairstyles, Taribo West is one of Nigeria's most famous defenders. He has built an amazing career in Europe, becoming one of the rare Africans to play for both Milan giants, Internazionale and AC Milan. He added Premier League and Bundesliga experience by playing for Derby County and Kaiserslautern respectively at the turn of the millennium. West earned 42 caps for the Nigerian national team from 1994 to 2005, featuring at two World Cups and two African Championships along the way.

5 – Joseph Yobo

We will stay at centre-backs as Joseph Yobo deserves a high fifth place on the list. The main reason why we've placed him above West is Yobo’s incredible success with the Nigerian U20 team. Yobo played at three World Cups and six African Cup of Nations, spending ten long years in the English top flight in the meantime. Yobo was just two games shy of a magical number of 200 appearances for Everton. Joseph also played at Marseille, Tenerife, Fenerbahce, and Norwich City in his rich career. He currently works as the assistant coach of the Nigerian national team.

4 – John Obi Mikel

The best way to describe Mikel John Obi is probably to say that he is a blend of Jay-Jay Okocha (not to the full extent, though) and Sunday Oliseh. A phenomenal ball controller with a staggering mix of timing, grace, and pure strength, Mikel spent more than a decade at Stamford Bridge. You don’t get to wear Chelsea’s shirt for so long unless you are special. At 18, Mikel delivered a goal and an assist on his African Cup of Nations debut. Since then, he has added 90 additional caps for the national side, including the appearances at two World Cups. Mikel was one of the main catalysts for the Super Eagles’ 2013 AFCON title run.

3 – Stephen Keshi

Choosing the top three is never easy in lists like this but we decided to go for Stephen Keshi mainly because of his leadership and the influence he had on Nigerian football much before the aforementioned stars came to the scene. Keshi inspired the Super Eagles’ maiden qualification for the World Cup as well as the team’s second African Cup of Nations title. We will never forget the scenes from the 1988 AFCON when Anderlecht refused to let Keshi go to the tournament which best shows how important he was to his team’s success as well. Keshi still flew to play the final two games of the event. He went on to become a successful manager later on, leading Togo to their lone World Cup qualification before taking Nigeria to the African Cup of Nations title. Keshi became only the second man to lift the AFCON trophy both as a player and as a coach, alongside Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary.

2 – Nwankwo Kanu

Nwankwo Kanu is one of the deadliest predators in the final third Africa has ever had. He announced a huge career by winning three Eredivisie titles and a UEFA Champions League silverware with Ajax in his European beginnings. Nwankwo went on to play for the likes of Inter Milan and Arsenal. He left a deep mark at Highbury, scoring some very important goals (30 in total) from the bench. He was a member of the famous 2003/04 Invincibles Arsenal squad. As if it was not enough, Kanu then took Portsmouth to the FA Cup glory, scoring goals in both the semifinal and the final for the Pompeys.

1 – Jay Jay Okocha

With all due respect to all Nigerian footballers, and the country gave birth to some true gems, there was no more decorated and talented player than Jay Jay Okocha. The 2005 African Player of the Year created some unforgettable moments during his rich playing career. We can all still remember his magnificent solo run against the entire Karlsruhe defensive line and the dribble past Oliver Kahn during his early Eintracht Frankfurt days. His transfer to PSG in 1998 represented the highest-paid move for any African player in the game's history at that time. The fact that Okocha served as a role model for young Ronaldinho back in the French capital speaks volumes. Jay Jay then went to England where he quickly established himself as one of the league's main stars despite wearing a Bolton Wanderers shirt. In terms of his national team accolades, Okocha marked his Super Eagles’ debut with an amazing free-kick goal against Algeria. That strike was one of the most crucial goals on the team’s way to the maiden World Cup qualification in 1994.

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