Asisat Oshoala has long been the most recognisable figure in African women’s football. A Barcelona winner, a record African Women’s Player of the Year, a trailblazer whose career has reshaped what Nigerian women see as possible in the sport. Now, at 29 and approaching the end of her peak years at the highest level, she is thinking clearly and without sentimentality about what comes next.
“I have at least two more years at the top level,” she said, speaking calmly from her base in San Jose during a video interview this week. “I feel strong. My body is in good shape, my desire to win has not decreased by one percent. When those things change — when my body tells me it cannot compete at this level or when the desire fades — then I will know it is time. Right now, neither of those things is true.”
The speculation about Oshoala’s future has intensified in recent months, partly driven by her decision to leave FC Barcelona last summer for Bay FC in the NWSL — a move some interpreted as a winding-down rather than a lateral career step. The 29-year-old pushes back firmly on that characterisation. “The NWSL is one of the best leagues in the world for women’s football. The standard is incredibly high, the competition is elite. I did not go to America to retire. I went there to challenge myself in a new environment.”
Her record at Bay FC bears out the argument. Eight goals in her first twelve NWSL appearances represented a more-than-encouraging start in a league known for its physicality and tactical intensity. Her trademark combination of power, pace, and clinical finishing has translated seamlessly.
For the Super Falcons, Oshoala’s continued availability is a gift. She is the team’s most dangerous attacker, its most experienced international, and, perhaps most importantly for a squad with significant youth in its ranks, its most compelling exemplar of what can be achieved through dedication and professional excellence.
“I want the young girls watching me to see that this is possible,” she said, her voice carrying genuine weight. “I want Chiamaka Nwosu, I want Gift Monday, I want all these young talents coming through to look at what I have achieved and think: that can be me, and I can go even further. That is my legacy — not the trophies, not the awards. The girls I inspire.”
The coming WAFCON qualifier against Cameroon is a campaign Oshoala has circled in her calendar. She knows the Indomitable Lionesses are strong, she knows the crowd in Yaounde will be electric in the second leg, and she knows the standard of opponent that will stand between Nigeria and WAFCON 2026 qualification demands her very best.
“Bring it,” she said with a smile. “I am ready.”
