Ahmed Musa (born 14 October 1992) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward and left winger for Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 20 ...

and the Nigeria national team. Musa became the first Nigerian to score more than once in a FIFA World Cup match, after scoring twice

against Against may refer to: * ''Against'' (album), 1998 album by Brazilian metal band Sepultura ** "Against" (song) the title track song from the Sepultura album *Against (American band), 2006 American thrash band *Against (Australian band) Again ...

Argentina in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

. Musa is also the first Nigerian to score in two FIFA World Cup competitions, after scoring twice against Iceland in the group stage of the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. Musa was a member of the Al Nassr squad that won the

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

and

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السعودي) is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the current version has been c ...

, both in 2019.

Club career

Musa began his career in the GBS Football Academy.

Breakthrough in Nigeria

In 2008, Musa was loaned to

JUTH F.C. JUTH FC was a Nigerian football club from Jos playing in the Nigeria National League. History They played at the Rwang Pam Stadium, with a capacity of 15 000. Due to the 2010 Jos riots they played some home games in Lafia, Nasarawa. After avoid ...

where he played 18 games, scoring four goals in his first two professional seasons for the Healers. He was subsequently loaned to Kano Pillars F.C., in the 2009–10 season where he set the league record scoring multiple crucial goals as Pillars finished second. Musa held the record for the highest goals ever scored in one season in the history of the Nigeria Premier League until November 2011, when Jude Aneke of Kaduna United F.C. set a new record of 20 goals.

VVV-Venlo

Musa was transferred to Dutch club VVV-Venlo in summer 2010, but the move was held up because he was only 17 years of age and therefore not eligible for an ITC in accordance with the current FIFA rules. He was officially eligible to play for VVV-Venlo on 14 October 2010 when he eventually turned 18 years of age. Less than a week after arriving at the club, Musa made his debut for VVV-Venlo against FC Groningen on 30 October. He started the game for VVV-Venlo, was fouled in the 50th minute and received a penalty kick. Rated by Goal.com amongst the Hot 100 young football stars in the world to watch in 2011, Lolade Adewuyi of Goal.com put him on the list of Top Ten Nigerian International Players of 2010 and was also included in

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for s ...

list of the best 140 players in the world. On 8 March 2011, Ahmed Musa won the AIT footballer of the year award (national). The ceremony was held at the Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The event had in attendance,

BBC African Footballer of the Year The BBC African Sports Personality of the Year (previously known as the BBC African Sports Star of the Year and the BBC African Footballer of the Year) was an annual award given to the best African sports personality of the year as voted by the B ...

winner, Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan and the top officials from the Nigerian football federation including the president Aminu Maigari. In April, Venlo's football director Mario Captien said that representatives of Tottenham Hotspur had visited the club regarding the player, also

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

scout Tijani Babangida said that Ajax were interested in Musa but that the outcome would be decided at the end of the season. On 1 May 2011, Musa hit a brace to sink

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

3–2 and end any lingering fears of automatic relegation from the Eredivisie. In August 2011, after returning from the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FI ...

in Colombia, Musa made his first appearance of the 2011–12 season at home against

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the ...

and scored two goals. In September VVV-Venlo chairman Hai Berden disclosed on

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

Live that VVV-Venlo had turned down a last minute bid of €10 million for Musa from the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

. The name of the

club was not disclosed.

CSKA Moscow

On 7 January 2012, Musa signed for Russian side

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

for an undisclosed fee. On 17 September 2014 he scored an 82nd minute consolation goal in a 5–1

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

away rout to A.S. Roma. On 1 June 2015, Musa signed a new four-year contract with CSKA until the end of the 2018–19 season. He finished the

2015–16 Russian Premier League The 2015–16 Russian Premier League was the 24th season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 14th under the current Russian Premier League name. Zenit Saint Petersburg came into the se ...

season as the 5th highest scorer, becoming one of only seven players aged 23 or younger to reach double figures for goals in each of the past two seasons in Europe's top seven leagues.

Leicester City

On 8 July 2016, Musa moved to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

for a club record £16.6 million. He scored his first goals with the club in a friendly against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

in the

2016 International Champions Cup The 2016 International Champions Cup (or ICC) was a series of friendly association football tournaments that began on 22 July and ended on 13 August 2016. In December 2015, Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur and Melbourne Victory were confirmed to pl ...

which ended in a 4–2 loss. He made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut on 13 August 2016 in the club's opening day 2–1 defeat to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

. He scored his first Premier League goal with the opener in a 3–1 victory over Crystal Palace on 22 October 2016. By January 2017, Musa was yet to register an assist for the club, contributing an average of 0.5 key passes, 0.3 crosses and 1.2 successful dribbles per game.

Loan return to CSKA Moscow

On 30 January 2018, Musa returned to

on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On 4 August 2018, Musa moved to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr on a permanent deal. In October 2020, Al Nassr announced that Musa was leaving. It was reported that Premier League club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

was expected to complete a move for Ahmed Musa in the January transfer window for the 2020–21 season.

Return to Kano Pillars

On 13 April 2021, Musa rejoined Nigerian club Kano Pillars until the end of the 2020–21 season.

International career

In April 2010 under Coach Lars Lagerbäck, he was called up to join the

Nigeria national football team The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in men's international football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners, with their most recent title in 2013. In April 1994, ...

camp prior to the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa after helping the Nigerian team win in the

2010 WAFU Nations Cup The 2010 WAFU Nations Cup was the first edition of the WAFU Nations Cup, an association football tournament organised by the West African Football Union. The tournament was also held in 2002, but that edition was cancelled due to the civil war in ...

where he scored a goal against

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

. In the same tournament against

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

, Musa's goal deep into extra-time shot Nigeria into the finals of the tournament in Abeokuta. He was however forced out of the Super Eagles' 30-man World Cup roster due to an ankle injury. On 5 August 2010, at the age of 17, Musa made his debut for the Nigeria senior team in a qualification match for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations against

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, where he came on as a substitute for Mikel John Obi in a 2–0 win. Musa scored his first goal for the Super Eagles in a March 2011 friendly against

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. In April 2011, Ahmed Musa was included in the

Nigeria national under-20 football team The Nigerian men's national under-20 football team represents Nigeria in men's international football also known as the Nigeria Under-20s or nicknamed the ''Flying Eagles.'' The Flying Eagles is the youth team for the national soccer in Nigeria ...

squad to represent the nation in the

2011 African Youth Championship The 2011 African Youth Championship was a football tournament for the Under-20 level national teams in Africa. It was due to be held in Libya from 18 March to 1 April. Following political unrest in the region, CAF decided to postpone the tourna ...

qualifiers, even though VVV Venlo had declared him unavailable for the tournament due to club commitments. After some intense negotiations with the Nigerian Federation, VVV Venlo and Musa's representatives it was agreed that Musa will shuttle between the Netherlands and South Africa to participate in the tournament with the national team. After the opening game against defending champions Ghana, Musa won the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

award and boarded the next flight back to the Netherlands. In August 2011, Musa represented Nigeria U20 in the 2011

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

held in Colombia, where he scored three goals in five matches. Musa was included by FIFA in shortlist of 10 candidates for the Adidas Golden Ball, which was awarded to the most outstanding player of the

. On 7 December 2011, Ahmed Musa was one of the four nominees named for the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

Most Promising Talent Award, however the award went to

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Souleymane Coulibaly Souleymane Coulibaly (born 26 December 1994) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Karmiotissa. Early life As a 13-year-old, Coulibaly emigrated to Italy to avoid conflict in Ivory Coast. He joined his father who ha ...

. Musa was called up to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

's 23-man squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

. He scored in a 4–1 semi-final defeat of

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

and appeared as a substitute against

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, as the Super Eagles won their third continental title. Overall, he appeared in five of the team's six matches. At the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

, he started in all three of the team's matches as they were eliminated in the group stage. After appearing in all of Nigeria's qualifying matches, Musa was named in

Stephen Keshi Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (23 January 1962 – 7 June 2016) was a Nigerian football player and manager. During his playing career, Keshi played as a defender and earned 60 caps for the Nigeria national team, making him the nation's second-mos ...

's squad for the

. He scored two goals in the team's final

Group F Group F may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group F ** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F ** 2014 FIF ...

match, a 3–2 defeat to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. In October 2015, following the retirement of Vincent Enyeama from international football, Nigerian coach, Sunday Oliseh named Musa as the captain of the team. This decision was however reversed in 2016 as Mikel John Obi was named captain of the Nigerian squad and Musa was moved to Vice Captain. In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the

in Russia. Though his performance against Iceland was superb, it was not even enough to keep the West Africans in the tournament as they were eliminated by Argentina On 22 June 2018, Musa scored twice in a 2–0 victory over

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

in their second group match of the World Cup. In June 2019 he became the third most capped player for Nigeria's national team, surpassing

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, ...

, after appearing in a friendly against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. He was named in the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championshi ...

team by head coach Gernot Rohr. He was also part of the Nigerian squad at the 2021 edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Cameroun.

Personal life

He was born from a multi-religious family, with his mother Sarah Musa (née Moses) being a Christian from Edo state in the Southern part of Nigeria. In April 2017, Musa was involved in a dispute with his estranged wife Jamila, resulting in the police being called to his home. Shortly afterwards, the couple were divorced following "irreconcilable differences". On 23 May, Musa married Juliet Ejue at Abuja. In October 2017, Musa purchased a second petrol station in Nigeria. On 24 January 2019, Musa confirmed the news of the death of his mother Sarah Musa on his Twitter page. She had previously been ill.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Musa goal''.

Honours

CSKA *

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 200 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2015–16 * Russian Cup:

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premi ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Al-Nassr *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

: 2018–19 *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Nigeria U20 *

African Youth Championship The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations also called TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsoring reason (previously known as the African Youth Championship or the African U-20 Championship) is the main international youth football competition ...

: 2011 Nigeria *

WAFU Nations Cup The WAFU Nations Cup (also known as the WAFU Cup of Nations or simply the WAFU Cup) is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union. History A trophy was commissioned by President ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

Individual * Nigeria Premier League Top Scorer: 2009–10 * In the list of 33 best football players of the championship of Russia:

* Russian Cup Top Scorer:

* CAF Team of the Year: 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musa, Ahmed 1992 births Living people People from Countesthorpe Nigerian Muslims Sportspeople from Jos Nigerian footballers JUTH F.C. players Kano Pillars F.C. players VVV-Venlo players PFC CSKA Moscow players Leicester City F.C. players Al Nassr FC players Fatih Karagümrük S.K. footballers Sivasspor footballers Nigeria Professional Football League players Eredivisie players Russian Premier League players Premier League players Saudi Professional League players Süper Lig players Association football forwards Nigeria international footballers Nigeria under-20 international footballers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey FIFA Century Club