RY
The Goalsfather location_on Retired (Julius Berger, last professional club)

RASHIDI
YEKINI

Striker #9 Nigerian flag Nigeria (Super Eagles) — retired 1998
forum

Age

Deceased (1963–2012) yrs

Height

1.82m

Caps / Goals

58 / 37

Profile

Who is Rashidi

Rashidi Yekini, 'The Goalsfather', is Nigeria's record men's striker: 37 goals in 58 caps (Super Eagles all-time scoring record until 2024), 1994 AFCON winner and top scorer, and the author of Nigeria's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal. His Bulgaria 1994 net-clutching 'Give it to me!' celebration remains one of the defining images of African football. Died in 2012 at 48.

Tactical DNA

Rashidi Yekini was a complete old-school No. 9 — 1.82m tall, powerful in the air, right-footed finisher with the body strength to hold up play and the timing of runs that made him an elite centre-forward in any era. His defining weapon was the near-post header off a cross: Nigeria's cross-and-header patterns in the 1990s Super Eagles were built entirely around Yekini's ability to attack the space between centre-backs.

For Nigeria across 14 senior international years (1984–1998), Yekini was the Super Eagles' goalscoring foundation. The 1993 CAF African Footballer of the Year award recognised what Nigerian fans already knew: a striker who scored in every African competition he entered, every World Cup qualifying cycle, and who raised his level against bigger opponents. The 1994 AFCON (hosted in Tunisia) Golden Boot — with 5 goals in 5 matches — was the peak of his tactical season: Nigeria won the tournament, Yekini scored in the final, and he was named MVP.

Career Journey

history
Shooting Stars SC (Nigeria)
53 apps 45 goals

Broke through at IICC Shooting Stars, scoring 45 goals in 53 games. Helped the club win the 1983 Nigerian league title and reach the 1984 African Champions Cup final.

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Abiola Babes (Nigeria)
100 apps 80 goals

Won two Nigerian FA Cups (1985, 1987) at what was Nigeria's richest club. The scoring form drove his Super Eagles breakthrough.

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Africa Sports (Côte d'Ivoire)
58 apps 32 goals

First African move out of Nigeria. Ivorian top-flight scoring seasons set the template for his subsequent European move.

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Vitória SC (Portugal)
108 apps 90 goals £360k

Portuguese Primeira Liga breakthrough. Top scorer three consecutive seasons (1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94). Set Vitória SC's all-time scoring records that still stand. 1993 CAF African Footballer of the Year based on this period.

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Olympiakos (Greece)
25 apps 5 goals £1.2m

Post-World-Cup move. Greek Super League season disrupted by injury. Returned to Portugal after one season.

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Sporting Gijón (Spain)
14 apps 1 goals

La Liga cameo — one of the first African strikers to feature in La Liga. Limited minutes due to foreign-player quota rules of the era.

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Zürich + FC Istres (short spells)
29 apps 6 goals

Swiss Nationalliga + Ligue 2 chapters. Career wind-down.

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Julius Berger (Nigeria)
48 apps 16 goals

Return to NPFL for the professional retirement chapter. Scored on his Nigerian re-debut. Combined playing with junior-coach duties at Julius Berger; final match was a 2005 testimonial at the old Abuja National Stadium.

Current Season Stats

Live Data
Status
Retired (died 2012)
Age 48
Career caps
58
Int'l goals
37
Super Eagles all-time record until 2024
AFCONs
4
1988, 1990, 1992, 1994
World Cup
1
1994 USA (Ro16)
CAF POY
1
1993

military_techHonours

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Nigeria all-time top scorer (1990s record)

37 goals in 58 caps — held until Odion Ighalo / Victor Osimhen overtook it in the 2020s

star

AFCON Winner + Golden Boot + MVP

1994 (Tunisia) — 5 goals in 5 matches

star

CAF African Footballer of the Year

1993

star

Portuguese Primeira Liga Top Scorer

1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 (3× consecutive at Vitória SC)

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NPFL Golden Boot

1987, 1988 (at Shooting Stars SC)

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Nigeria's first World Cup goal scorer

vs Bulgaria, 21 June 1994

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BBC African Footballer of the Year

1993

flagWith Nigeria (Super Eagles) — retired 1998

58
Caps
37
Goals
1984
Debut
AFCON 1988 AFCON 1990 AFCON 1992 AFCON 1994 (winner, Golden Boot) World Cup 1994
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Beyond the Pitch

Born 23 October 1963 in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Grew up in the Kaduna Muslim community; attended the Nigerian Teachers' Training College before turning professional with UNTL Kaduna at 18. Quiet, famously private personality — Rashidi gave fewer than a dozen solo interviews across his 17-year professional career, a defining trait that Nigerian media have discussed repeatedly in post-retirement profiles.

After retirement Yekini returned to Kaduna and lived in a modest family compound with his mother and siblings. Struggled publicly with mental-health issues in his final years, a topic that Nigerian football has engaged with in the decade after his 2012 death. Died on 4 May 2012 at age 48 in Ibadan — the cause of death was never officially published by the family, but the Nigerian football community has treated his passing as a turning-point conversation about mental-health support for African former players.

Posthumously awarded the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by the Nigerian government in 2013. The Rashidi Yekini Stadium in Ira, Kwara State — renamed in 2012 after his death — is a community ground used by northern Nigerian youth academies. Remembered every year on 4 May; every Nigerian football match in the first week of May has used a moment of remembrance since 2013.

Expert Analysis

Amara Okafor

Amara Okafor

Senior Writer

12 posts on Rashidi.

Rashidi Q&A

Who was Rashidi Yekini? expand_more
Rashidi Yekini (23 October 1963 – 4 May 2012) was Nigeria's greatest-ever striker — 37 goals in 58 caps for the Super Eagles, 1994 AFCON winner and Golden Boot, 1993 CAF African Footballer of the Year, and the scorer of Nigeria's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal. He was nicknamed 'The Goalsfather' and died in 2012 at age 48.
Did Rashidi Yekini score Nigeria's first World Cup goal? expand_more
Yes — Yekini scored Nigeria's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal on 21 June 1994 against Bulgaria in USA '94. The celebration — Yekini clutching the net and shouting 'give it to me!' — is one of the iconic images of African football and has been used on stamps, posters and Nigerian advertising campaigns ever since.
How many Super Eagles goals did Rashidi Yekini score? expand_more
37 goals in 58 senior caps — Yekini held the Super Eagles all-time scoring record from the 1990s until the 2020s era of Odion Ighalo and Victor Osimhen. His goals-per-game rate (0.64) is still the highest of any Super Eagles striker with more than 20 caps.
Where did Rashidi Yekini play club football? expand_more
Yekini's major clubs were UNTL Kaduna, Africa Sports (Côte d'Ivoire), Shooting Stars SC (Nigeria), Vitória SC (Portugal), Olympiakos (Greece) and Sporting Gijón (Spain). His defining years were at Vitória SC in Portugal (1990–1994), where he was the Primeira Liga top scorer three consecutive seasons and set all-time club scoring records that still stand.
Did Rashidi Yekini win the AFCON? expand_more
Yes — Yekini won the 1994 AFCON in Tunisia with Nigeria. He was the tournament Golden Boot (5 goals in 5 matches) and the tournament MVP, scoring in the final vs Zambia. The Nigerian Super Eagles went on from that AFCON victory to USA '94 — their first-ever FIFA World Cup.
When did Rashidi Yekini die? expand_more
Yekini died on 4 May 2012 in Ibadan, Nigeria, at age 48. The cause of death was not officially published by the family; Nigerian football media have described his passing as a turning-point conversation about mental-health support for African former professionals. Every 4 May is remembered across Nigerian football.
Was Rashidi Yekini CAF African Footballer of the Year? expand_more
Yes — Yekini won the 1993 CAF African Footballer of the Year award. It was the high point of his Vitória SC period, when he was the Portuguese Primeira Liga's top scorer for the second consecutive season. He was also the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 1993.
Is there a Rashidi Yekini Stadium? expand_more
Yes — the community ground in Ira, Kwara State (central Nigeria) was renamed Rashidi Yekini Memorial Stadium in 2012 after his death. It is used by northern Nigerian youth academies and hosts the annual Yekini Memorial Cup every May.
Where is Rashidi Yekini in the pantheon of African strikers? expand_more
Yekini is consistently ranked in the top five greatest African strikers of all time alongside Samuel Eto'o, Didier Drogba, George Weah and Asamoah Gyan. His combination of physical play, tournament scoring record and the 1994 'give it to me!' celebration have kept him culturally central to African football identity more than a decade after his death.
Who is Nigeria's highest goal scorer in history? expand_more
Rashidi Yekini with 37 Super Eagles goals, the all-time record from 1984 to 1998. Odion Ighalo and Victor Osimhen closed the gap in the 2020s, but Yekini's goals-per-game ratio (around 0.64) remains the highest of any Nigerian striker with 20+ caps.
Which town is Rashidi Yekini from? expand_more
Irepodun town, Kwara State, central Nigeria. Yekini was born there on 23 October 1963 before the family moved to Kaduna in his early teens. The Rashidi Yekini Memorial Stadium in Ira (nearby) was renamed in his honour after his death in 2012.

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Last updated 2026-04-21 · written by Amara Okafor.