Nigeria All-time 23 member team

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Nigeria's Gold medal at the 1996 Olympics

 

Nigeria first became prominence when they won the African Cup of Nations in 1980.  They reached the Final two more times in the 1980's.  Then, the national team made a great leap forward in 1990's.  The Super Eagles won the African Cup of Nations in 1994 right before the WC Finals in the US.  The team consisted of Stephen Keshi, Jay-Jay Okocha, Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi and Rashidi Yekini.  They reached the 2nd round of the WC Finals before narrowly losing to Italy in the round of 16.  Two years later, Nigeria fielded a similar team that won the Gold medal at the Olympics, a achievement considered to be African football's finest moment.

 If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.  The team is not an All-Star team. I tried to be as realistic as possible.   A few of the players are selected for tactical reasons at the expense of more famous players.

Team 
GK:  Peter Rufai 

He was the starting keeper for both WC Finals in 1994 and 1998 where the Super Eagles made an impact.  He was capped 62 times.

  

GK:  Vincent Enyeama

He earned over 90 caps and played in three WC Finals(2002, 2010 and 2014).  He won two CAF Champions' League with Enyimba before making a move to Europe.

GK:  Emmanuel Okala

He was a tall keeper.  He won  the African Cup Winners' Cup with Enugu Rangers in 1978.  He was the first Nigerian to be named African Player of the Year by ASJU in 1978.   He won All African games gold medal in 1973. He was also in the team that won Nigeria’s first nations cup in 1980, but was a backup.

RB: Tony Igwe

He was the first Nigerian to master the overlapping wingback position.  He helped to qualify Nigeria for the 1976 Olympics though the country withdrew due to political reasons.

CB:  Stephen Keshi 

He was one of the leaders of Nigeria WC team in 1994.  they also won the African Cup of Nations on the same year.  He played his best years in Belgium and France.

Stephen Keshi 

CB: Joseph Yobo 

He spent 8 years playing for Everton.   He was the captain of Nigeria.  He played in three WC Finals in 2002, 2010 and 2014.

CB:  Uche Okechukwu 

He was a part of the Golden Gnereation.  He went to the WC Finals in 1994 and the Olympics in 1996.  The highlight of his club football was played in Turkey with Fenerbahçe.

CB:  Christian Chukwu 
He is considered one of Nigeria's greatest defender.  He captained Nigeria's first ever African Cup of Nations win in 1980.  He played for Enugu.Rangers. 

CB: Godwin Achebe

He became of Nigeria as a 18 years old.  He played for Nigeria from 1960 to 1974.  His national team career, however, was interuppted by the civil war.  He played for Enugu.Rangers. 

LB: Taribo West
He represented the Nigerian national team in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups.  He was also a member of the Nigerian team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.  He spent two seasons with Inter Milan, where he won the UEFA Cup in 1998.

Taribo West

LB: Celestine Babayaro

He was best remembered for his 8 seasons with Chelsea FC.  He won a Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympics and made the all-tournament team. 

CM:  Sunday Oliseh

He was a member of the Golden Generation in the 1990's.  He won the Gold Medal at Atlanta 1996 and appeared in the WC Finals in 1994 and 1998.  

CM:  Muda Lawal

He is the only player ever to appear at five consecutive Nation Cup final rounds (1976-1984), winning the edition in 1980. 

is the joint most capped Nigerian player alongside Kanu Nwankwo with 86 games. He is the first player in Africa to play in five consecutive African Cup of Nations from 1976 to 1984. He was a member of the Nigerian team that won the African Cup of Nations in 1980 and was a legend with the famous Nigerian club (IICC Shooting Stars) in his playing days. - See more at: http://www.rascojet.com/blog/2011/12/10-nigerian-soccer-players/#sthash.OEQ9zUtR.dpuf

is the joint most capped Nigerian player alongside Kanu Nwankwo with 86 games. He is the first player in Africa to play in five consecutive African Cup of Nations from 1976 to 1984. He was a member of the Nigerian team that won the African Cup of Nations in 1980 and was a legend with the famous Nigerian club (IICC Shooting Stars) in his playing days. - See more at: http://www.rascojet.com/blog/2011/12/10-nigerian-soccer-players/#sthash.OEQ9zUtR.dpuf

RW:  Finidi George

He was a member of Ajax that won the 1995 Champions' League and considered one of the greatest club sides in history.  He was a key member of Nigeria's Golden Generation in the 1990's. 

Finidi George

LW:  Emmanuel Amuneke

He was a star at the WC Finals in 1994, where he won the African Player of the Year the same year.  He won the Gold Medal at Atlanta 1996.  He made a big move to Barcelona in 1996, but did not play much there.

AM: Jay-Jay Okocha

In 2007 he was voted number 12 on the greatest African footballers of the past 50 years by CAF.  He was Nigeria Player of the Year in
1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.  He played in three WC Finals(1994, 1998, 2002) and won an Olympic Gold medal.

Jay-Jay Okocha

RW/FW:  Segun Odegbami 

Nicknamed "Mathematical".  He is regarded as one of the greatest Nigerian players of all-time.  He won the African Cup of nations in 1980 and he scored two goals in the Final. Because of that, he was the runner-up for the African Player of the Year award the same year. He also won the 1976 African Cup Winners Cup with Shooting Stars.

 

FW:  Victor Ikpeba

He was African Player of the Year in 1997.   He was a member of the Golden Generation in the 1990's.  He won the Gold Medal at Atlanta 1996 and appeared in the WC Finals in 1994 and 1998.  He had a great career with Monaco.

FW: Nwankwo Kanu

Voted as Nigeria's greatest player.  He captained Nigeria's Gold Medal team at Atlanta 1996.  He was African Player of the Year in 1996 and 1999.  He was a member of Ajax that won the 1995 Champions' League and considered one of the greatest club sides in history.  Because of a heart condition, his career in Italy was interrupted and joined Arsenal in 1999, where he enjoyed 6 great seasons.
 

Nwankwo Kanu

   

ST: Aiyegbeni Yakubu

He was best remembered for his 11 seasons playing in England scoring over 130 goals.  He only played in one WC Finals. 

ST:  Daniel Amokachi

 He was a member of the Golden Generation in the 1990's.  He won the Gold Medal at Atlanta 1996 and appeared in the WC Finals in 1994 and 1998.  he earned a big move to Everton after the WC in 1994.  His club career was, however, marked with injuries.  

ST:  Rashidi Yekini

He shared the African Player of the Year with Abedi Pele in 1993. He scored Nigeria's first ever WC goal in 1994.  He scored 37 goals in 58 appearance.  He died in 2011 at the age of 48. 

Yekini scoring Nigeria's first ever goal at the WC Finals
 

Honorable Mention

John Obi Mikel, Obafemi Martins, Ben Iroha, Samson Siasia.

Squad Explanation

• The squad was full of players from the African Cup of Nations winners in 1980 and the Golden Generation of the 1990's.   
• John Obi Mikel and Obafemi Martins have name recognition, but I selected players from the Golden Generation over them because those players had brought glory to Nigeria.  

 Starting lineup

Formation 4-2-1-2 

• Cameroon has three great all-time keepers, but the order of preference was more obvious.  Nigeria has three good keepers, but they are similar in level.  In the end, I went for an old timer with a  legendary status.
• Most African sides lack an all-time leftback, but Nigeria has two that were very good.  West is probably more famous, but I chose Babayaro because his career at the peak was longer.  Basically, West had two great seasons at Inter Milan.  
• I moved Kanu to the secondary striker position on the left.