Twelve minutes into the Women's Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat on 26 July 2025, Halimatu Ayinde sliced a clearance. Ghizlane Chebbak punished it from distance. Morocco led 2-0 at half-time. Nigeria came back to win 3-2, and the midfielder who had started the night so badly walked off with a fourth continental title.
That evening says a lot about her.
| Full name | Halimatu Ibrahim Ayinde |
| Born | 16 May 1995, Kaduna |
| Position | Defensive midfielder |
| Current club | BK Häcken, Sweden (since January 2026) |
| Previous clubs | Delta Queens, Western New York Flash, FC Minsk, Asarum, Eskilstuna United, FC Rosengård |
| WAFCON titles | 2016, 2018, 2024 |
| Major tournaments | World Cups 2015, 2019, 2023; Paris 2024 Olympics |
| Salary | Not publicly disclosed |
From Delta Queens to a decade in Sweden
Ayinde came through the national youth sides. She played for Nigeria at under-17 level between 2010 and 2012. In 2014 she was part of the Falconets team that reached the U-20 Women's World Cup final, lost to Germany. At home she played for Delta Queens, and the Western New York Flash signed her in June 2015.
America did not stick. Nine appearances later, the Flash released her in May 2016. She moved to Belarus and FC Minsk, scored four goals there and travelled to the 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations as a Minsk player.
Sweden became home in 2018.
Asarum gave her a full season. She was still on their books when Thomas Dennerby picked her for the title run in Ghana that November. Eskilstuna United followed in 2019. In September 2022 she joined FC Rosengård in Malmö, the biggest name in Swedish women's football, who were champions that year and again in 2024, a period in which she settled in as one of the senior figures in a squad that expected to win the league every season.
Then came a dip. Rosengård finished 11th in 2025. BK Häcken, the reigning champions, signed her on a free transfer at the end of January 2026, and Fotbolldirekt reported the deal runs through the 2026 season. Häcken then won the first UEFA Women's Europa Cup in May, beating Hammarby 4-2 on aggregate. In late September they sat top of the Damallsvenskan.
The club's announcement carried her own words, in Swedish. She called herself “a happy person who works hard” and said that on the pitch she always wants “to give my best and contribute leadership”. Häcken, she added, felt like the right place “to keep developing but also compete and win more titles with the team”. The translation is ours.
Football director Martin Ericsson said she “knows what it takes to play at the highest level”.
A permanent fixture for the Super Falcons
Her senior debut came in 2015, the year she went to the World Cup in Canada. She was back at the finals in France in 2019 and in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. Randy Waldrum then named her in his 18 for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Africa is where her record stands out. She was in the winning squads of 2016 and 2018. Justine Madugu brought her back for the delayed 2024 edition in Morocco, and Nigeria's Guardian described her return as the midfield lynchpin coming back into the fold, which is exactly how the tournament played out until that final night in Rabat.
Madugu kept faith with her for the 2026 tournament, again in Morocco, naming her among six midfielders, but the title defence ended in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 defeat by Cameroon on 9 August. It hurt.
Halimatu Ayinde salary: what is actually known
No serious outlet has published what Häcken, Rosengård or any earlier club paid her. Swedish clubs do not disclose individual wages. Any figure on a profile site is a guess, and we will not repeat one.
Her national team rewards are another matter. On 28 July 2025, President Bola Tinubu announced that each of the 24 players would get the naira equivalent of $100,000. Each also received a three-bedroom flat and the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger. The Nigeria Governors' Forum added ₦10 million per player. At the official rate of ₦1,534.20 to the dollar that day, the cash award was worth roughly ₦153 million and the governors' gift about $6,500.
Payment was slow.
In August 2025, captain Rasheedat Ajibade told the With Chude show: “We have not received our money oo.” Only in July 2026 did National Sports Commission chairman Shehu Dikko say the $100,000 had reached the players' accounts. In Morocco this year the commission offered the squad $5,000 per goal, doubled to $10,000 a goal for the 6-2 win over Egypt.
Our view
Ayinde has never been the Super Falcon who sells shirts.
She is the one coaches keep calling back, from Dennerby to Waldrum to Madugu. A defensive midfielder with nine seasons in Sweden, who has played for the league's two most recent champions, brings a calm younger squads lack, and Rabat showed it: after a costly mistake she stayed composed for the remaining 78 minutes while the comeback was built around her. At 31, with her Häcken deal running out this year, the next contract matters. We think she has earned it.
For more on her teammates, read our profiles of Rasheedat Ajibade, Jennifer Echegini and Esther Okoronkwo.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 minutes ago
