When Rasheedat Ajibade reported to the Super Falcons camp in Ijebu-Ode on Tuesday, the squad passed 20 players and the armband had its owner back. Friday brings Comoros at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo, the first leg of a Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualifier. For a forward who has swung between glory and heartbreak in Rabat inside thirteen months, it is another start.
| Born | 8 December 1999, Kaduna, Nigeria |
| Position | Forward, number 10 at PSG |
| Club | Paris Saint-Germain, contract to 30 June 2027 |
| National team | Super Falcons captain |
| Major honours | WAFCON 2018 and 2024, Copa de la Reina 2023, Spanish Super Cup 2021 |
| Individual | WAFCON 2024 Player of the Tournament, WAFCON 2022 joint top scorer |
| Salary | Not public |
From FC Robo to Paris
The zobo came first. Premium Times traced her road back to selling the hibiscus drink on the streets of Lagos, long before anyone in Europe knew her name. The football was built in the Nigeria Women Premier League with FC Robo between 2013 and 2018. She was the league's Player of the Season in 2017 and shared the top scorer prize that year. The NFF made her its Young Player of the Year in 2018.
Norway was next.
At Avaldsnes she scored 12 goals in 39 games and made the Toppserien Team of the Season in 2020. Atlético Madrid moved for her in January 2021.
Madrid became home for four and a half seasons. She left with 40 goals from close to 140 appearances, the 2021 Spanish Super Cup, the 2023 Copa de la Reina and a Liga F Player of the Month award from September 2024. Her final campaign brought 8 goals and 3 assists in 25 matches.
Then came Paris. PSG announced her on 26 August 2025 on a two-year deal. “I'm deeply honoured to be joining Paris Saint-Germain, a top-drawer club in Europe,” she told the club's website. In Paris she lines up with compatriot Jennifer Echegini. On 14 February 2026 she struck in the 89th minute of a 3-0 Coupe LFFP semi-final win over Paris FC. Her verdict on X was short.
“On to the final.”
Rabat 2025: the tournament of her life
Nigeria trailed hosts Morocco by two goals in the WAFCON 2024 final at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat on 26 July 2025. They won 3-2. It was a tenth continental crown.
Ajibade had already collected three Player of the Match awards, against Botswana, Zambia and South Africa, the last of them in a semi-final she settled from the penalty spot past Andile Dlamini. Before the final she refused to make it about herself.
“Winning three awards is humbling, but it's not just about me, it's a team achievement.”
CAF named her Woman of the Tournament anyway. That penalty was her only goal of the competition. It says plenty about how much of her game happens away from the score sheet, three years after she had shared the top scorer prize at the 2022 edition with goals rather than graft.
Abuja followed. On 28 July 2025 President Bola Tinubu conferred the Officer of the Order of the Niger on all 24 players, with the naira equivalent of 100,000 US dollars each and a three-bedroom apartment in the Renewed Hope Housing Estate.
In November 2025 she made the final three for CAF Women's Player of the Year in Rabat. Morocco's Ghizlaine Chebbak won. The wait for a fifth Nigerian winner goes on.
WAFCON 2026 and the Olympic road
The title defence in Morocco opened with a shock. Malawi struck three times after the 73rd minute, and Ajibade's 92nd minute penalty plus a Uchenna Kanu goal deep in stoppage time only cut the final score to 3-2. The Falcons had to scramble. They did. Egypt paid for it. On 5 August 2026 Nigeria routed Egypt 6-2 at the Rabat Olympic Stadium, with the captain converting a stoppage time penalty and laying on another for Joy Omewa, and that was enough for the quarter-finals.
Cameroon ended it there.
A single free kick on 9 August 2026 sent the defending champions home 1-0. Cameroon went on to beat Malawi 3-0 in the final a week later.
Augustine Eguavoen now leads the team on an interim basis. His 28-player list for the Comoros double header was built around captain Rasheedat Ajibade. Both legs are in Ikenne-Remo, on 9 and 13 October, because Comoros have no CAF-approved stadium. Our camp report has the latest arrivals, while her standing among the Super Falcons' all-time top scorers keeps rising with every spot kick she buries for the national team.
Salary and private life
Is Rasheedat Ajibade married? Searches for a husband keep coming, but there is no public information on one. She has announced no marriage and named no partner. She keeps her private life private.
Her PSG salary is not public either. Neither the club nor the player has published her wages or any transfer fee.
Figures online cannot be confirmed.
Ambition she does share. When the Paris move was confirmed she said her focus was “to win trophies and to inspire young talents back home and around the world,” and that is the job again on Friday evening in Ikenne.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 day ago
