22 Nigerians, 1,107 minutes and 3 goals in Europe, 3-5 November

Twenty-two Nigeria-tagged players reached a European pitch between 3 and 5 November 2026. Together, according to our compilation of Sportmonks data, they logged 1,107 minutes, three goals and two assists. Two of the goals belong to Tolu Arokodare, who has his own piece. The rest was quieter. Scattered, too.

Etim scores on the wrong side of a 6-1

Thursday night in Denmark put two Nigerians in one match report. Friday Etim scored for FC Midtjylland in the first half of their 6-1 Europa Conference League defeat by Ajax, the club of Arokodare. He played 45 minutes and Sportmonks rates him at 7.38, a strong number for a player on the beaten team, while Stanley Iheanacho played 30 minutes and finished on 6.35.

One goal. That was all Midtjylland had to show for it.

Full-distance starters and a few good ratings

Only three played every minute. Victor Osimhen did it for Galatasaray in the 2-0 Champions League win over VfB Stuttgart on 3 November, rated 6.98. On 5 November, Chibuike Nwaiwu and Paul Onuachu both went the full 90 for Trabzonspor in a 1-0 home loss to SC Freiburg. Nwaiwu's 7.53 is the highest rating of any Nigerian that week apart from Arokodare, and Onuachu's 7.2 came in a game where his side scored nothing.

Honest Ahanor played 75 minutes of Crystal Palace's 1-1 Europa League draw with TSG Hoffenheim and was rated 7.18. A steady shift. Moses Usor of LASK left after 75 minutes of the 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava on 3 November, with an assist and a 7.23, the best rating of any Nigerian on the Champions League list that week. Slavia Praha fared worse. Mubarak Suleiman (46 minutes), David Moses (81) and Emmanuel Ayaosi (71) all played in the 2-1 Champions League defeat by Arsenal, and none of the three rated above 6.52. Three players, 198 minutes, no mark on the scoreline.

Cameos, and one number nobody wanted

Ademola Lookman got 31 minutes for Atlético de Madrid in the 2-0 home defeat by FC Bayern München, and Sportmonks gives him 6.46. Brief. Zaidu Sanusi played 23 minutes of Porto's 4-1 win over Napoli. Then the short appearances, among them Jeff Ekhator (12 minutes for Juventus at AZ Alkmaar), Tochukwu Nnadi (19 for Olympique Marseille at Bayer 04 Leverkusen) and Bamidele Yusuf, who lasted 10 minutes of Ferencvárosi's 2-0 win at AC Milan. His 5.00 was the lowest rating in the whole set, although ten minutes is a very thin sample to judge anyone on.

A caution. Sportmonks lists players by nationality, so the headline figure is the feed's.

Back to the totals. The Champions League took the largest share of minutes, helped by Osimhen's full 90. Season-long numbers for all of them sit in our Nigerians abroad stats tracker.

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