Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini (born 22 March 2001) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Première Ligue The Première Ligue ( ; sponsor name Arkema Première Ligue) is a professional women's association football league at the highest level of the French football league system, and is run by the Ligue féminine de football professionnel (LFFP). ...

club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and the Nigeria national team. Echegini played collegiately for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

and the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

. In 2023, she led the Seminoles to the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

and won the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

as the best player in college soccer. She turned professional with

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

before moving to Paris Saint-Germain.

Early life and college career

Echegini was born in the Netherlands to Nigerian parents. Her family moved to England when she was 11. She spent her youth career at SCE Nijmegen,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Echegini was recruited by incoming head coach James Armstrong to play collegiately for the Bulldogs soccer team at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

in 2019. She spent three seasons there, scoring 11 goals with 6 assists in 42 games. In 2022, she transferred to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

to play for the Seminoles soccer team under Brian Pensky, who had tried to recruit her previously. In her first season for the defending

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

, she had 11 goals and 6 assists in 21 games and earned second-team All- ACC honors. She had two goals and three assists during the NCAA tournament, including a goal and an assist in their 3–2 loss to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the semifinals.

Florida State Seminoles

In the 2023 season, Echegini led the ACC with 16 goals and had 5 assists in 23 games for the Seminoles. She was the MVP of the ACC tournament, bracing in a 2–1 final victory over Clemson. She recorded three goals and two assists during the NCAA tournament, including one of each in a 5–1 final victory against

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, concluding Florida State's undefeated season. She was highly decorated for the season, receiving first-team All-ACC and first-team All-American honors, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

, and the

, which is given to the most outstanding college soccer player of the season.

Club career

Juventus

On 4 January 2024, Echegini signed with Italian club

on a multi-year contract through June 2026. She scored 10 goals from 16 matches before leaving the club in July 2024.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 10 July 2024, Echegini joined French club

on a three-year contract until June 2027.

International career

Echegini scored her first international goal for

Nigeria Nigeria, 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 Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

on 11 April 2023 in a 3–0 win against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. On 16 June 2023, Echegini was called up to the Nigeria squad for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

. She was a member of the Nigerian Super Falcons squad that reached the round of 16 in the

. Echegini was called up to the Nigeria squad for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

Florida State Seminoles *

NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's natio ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * NCAA Division I First-Team All-America:

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Offensive Player of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Echegini, Jennifer Living people 2001 births Footballers from London Women's association football midfielders Nigeria women's international footballers Nigerian women's footballers 21st-century Nigerian sportswomen English women's footballers English people of Nigerian descent Juventus FC (women) players Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players Serie A (women's football) players Première Ligue players Nigerian expatriate women's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in France Sportspeople of Nigerian descent 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Florida State Seminoles women's soccer players Mississippi State Bulldogs women's soccer players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Nigeria 21st-century English sportswomen