Simisola Feyishayo "Simi" Awujo (; born September 23, 2003) is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player 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 English

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Born in the United States and a former United States under-17 international, she represents

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at senior international level.

Early life

Awujo began playing youth soccer at age seven with AFC Lightning in her hometown

Peachtree City, Georgia Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 38,244. Peachtree City is located in southern Metro Atlanta. Golf carts are widely used in the city. Over 10,000 hous ...

, United States. Afterwards, she played youth soccer with NASA Tophat and Southern Soccer Academy, as well as three years of Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 2014–16. While at

Woodward Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is a private, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park, Georgia, College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, Johns Creek, Geor ...

, she competed in track and field, helping set school records in the 4x100 and 4x400.

College career

In 2021, she began attending the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where she played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

. She scored her first goal on September 5, 2021, against the

Western Michigan Broncos The Western Michigan Broncos are a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I program representing Western Michigan University (WMU) in college athletics. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's coll ...

. In her first season, she played in all 20 games including 15 starts, scoring two goals and creating two assists primarily as a holding midfielder, and was named to the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, she made 11 appearances, scoring two goals and three assists. She was named All-Pac 12 First Team as well as CSC Academic All-District Team. After her junior season in 2023, she appeared in 18 games, registering two assists, and was again named to the All-Pac 12 First Team. Academically she earned Scholar All-America third team, CSC Academic All-District and Pac-12 Honor Roll honors She departed prior to her senior year, having made a total of 49 appearances.

Club career

In summer 2023, Awujo appeared in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

for FC Premier Women, scoring one goal and making three assists in four appearances. She was named the Coastal Division Offensive Player of the Year and to the Coastal Division Best XI. In August 9, 2024, Awujo signed a thee-year contract with English

club

. She made her debut on September 21, as a 77th-minute substitute in an opening day 3–0 win at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

International career

Youth

Awujo was eligible to represent the United States (where she was born), Nigeria (where both her parents were born), and Canada (as her mother is a citizen). In 2019, she represented the United States under-17 at a UEFA Women's Development Tournament in the Czech Republic. She was recalled to an under-17 training camp in 2020. In January 2022, she attended her first camp with the Canada under-20 team, later being selected for the

2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONCACAF for the women's under-20 national teams of the North, Central ...

, where she won a bronze medal, and to the

2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup () was the 10th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its ...

roster, where she played every minute as Canada lost every match and were eliminated at the group stage.

Senior

In August 2022, Awujo earned her first callup to the senior Canada national team for a pair of friendly matches against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She made her debut on September 3, 2022, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute. She was named the women's 2022 Canada Soccer Young Player of the Year. In July 2023, she was named to the 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 an unused substitute for all three matches as Canada were eliminated at the group stage. She scored her first senior international goal on December 1, 2023, in a 5–0 victory in a friendly against Australia. In February 2024, she was named to the roster for the inaugural

2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup The 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup was the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, an international women's soccer competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF. The tournament was contested b ...

. She made her senior tournament debut on February 25, 2024, as a halftime substitute in a 4–0 victory over

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Canada were eliminated at the semifinal stage on penalties against the United States. In July 2024, she was called up to represent Canada at the

2024 Olympic Games 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 ...

. She made three appearances including two starts, as Canada were eliminated at the quarterfinals by Germany on penalties.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

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

Honours

Manchester United *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

runner-up: 2024–25 Canada *

Pinatar Cup The Pinatar Cup, by full name Pinatar Cup by IAST SPORTS, is an invitational women's association football tournament held in March in San Pedro del Pinatar, Region of Murcia, Spain. In the first edition (in 2020), it was contested by Iceland, Nor ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Awujo, Simi Living people 2003 births Canadian women's soccer players Soccer players from Atlanta Women's association football midfielders Canada women's international soccer players American women's soccer players USC Trojans women's soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players American emigrants to Canada Women's Premier Soccer League players 21st-century American sportswomen Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for Canada United States women's youth international soccer players Manchester United W.F.C. players Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate women's soccer players 21st-century Canadian sportswomen