Victor Okoh Boniface (born 23 December 2000) 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 striker for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Real Sapphire

In January 2018, Boniface went on loan to

KTFF Süper Lig The KTFF Süper Lig (English: CTFA Super League), officially the AKSA Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Birinci Lig ( literally ''First League''), is the top football league in Northern Cyprus. The league was founded in ...

club Lefke TSK. After continuing his career here for a short time, he returned to Real Sapphire in July 2018.

Bodø/Glimt

Boniface signed for Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt on 4 March 2019. He suffered a ligament injury only two weeks after signing for Glimt, which was said to be likely to keep him on the sidelines for the duration of the 2019 season. Boniface was selected to the Nigeria U-20 squad to play the 2019

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, known for short as the U-20 AFCON and for sponsorship purposes as TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, previously known as the African Youth Championship and the African U-20 Championship, is the biennial i ...

, but had to withdraw from the squad due to injury. In September 2019 he nonetheless made his league debut for the club.

Union SG

On 8 August 2022, Boniface signed a four-year contract with Belgian side

Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (), also known as Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG or simply Union, is a Belgian professional football club from Brussels based in Forest. Founded in 1897 in the neighbouring Saint-Gilles, the club has played its home ...

. Union reached the quarter-finals of the 2022–23 Europa League. Boniface scored six goals in the competition, including a brace against

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

in the round of 16, finishing as the competition's joint top scorer along with

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, on Loan (association football), lo ...

Bayer Leverkusen

On 22 July 2023, Boniface signed for

club

on a contract until 2028, and was assigned the number 22 shirt. He made his Bundesliga debut as a starter on 19 August, in a 3–2 home victory over

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

. The following week, on 26 August, he scored his first Bundesliga goals by netting a brace at the Borussia Park in a 3–0 away derby win against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

. In early April 2024, Boniface recovered from an adductor injury sustained in January that year. On 11 April, he netted his first goal following his return in a 2–0 win against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in the 1st leg of the Europa League quarter-final. Four days later, he scored the opener from the

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

spot and provided an assist in a 5–0 win against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

, helping his club to secure the Bundesliga title for the first time with five games to spare. He eventually managed to finish his first season at the club as their top scorer in the league with 14 goals, winning the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen. On 1 October 2024, he scored his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

goal, securing a 1–0 victory over

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

International career

Boniface made his debut for the Nigeria senior team on 10 September 2023, coming on in the 64th minute for

Taiwo Awoniyi Taiwo Micheal Awoniyi (born 12 August 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Nottingham Forest and the Nigeria national team. Club career Early career In 2010, Awoniyi was voted the Most Valuable Player ...

. He provided an assist in that match to

Samuel Chukwueze Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze (; born 22 May 1999) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), right winger for Serie A club AC Milan and the Nigeria national football team, Nigeria n ...

. On 29 December 2023, he was named in the Nigerian squad for the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

in the Ivory Coast. However, on 8 January 2024, Boniface sustained a muscle injury which forced him to miss the African tournament, and he was replaced by Terem Moffi.

Style of play

Boniface is known for his distinctive style of play. His playing characteristics include strengths in dribbling, finishing, and headed attempts, while his weaknesses lie in offside awareness, holding onto the ball, and defensive contribution. He is described as a player who likes to dribble, likes to do layoffs, and likes to play long balls. These attributes contribute to his effectiveness as a forward on the field. His background, including learning to play football in a military barracks in Nigeria, adds an interesting dimension to his journey as a footballer. Overall, Victor Boniface's style of play is characterised by his technical abilities, goal-scoring prowess, and unique playing preferences, making him a player to watch in the world of football.

Personal life

Boniface is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Boniface enjoys making funny goal celebrations to entertain people when he scores.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Bodø/Glimt *

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Bayer Leverkusen *

: 2023–24 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2023–24 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * UEFA Europa League top scorer:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Team of the Season:

Rookie of the Month: August 2023, September 2023, October 2023, November 2023 *

Player of the Month: August 2023 *

Team of the Season: 2023–24 *

Rookie of the Season: 2023–24

References

External links

Profile
at glimt.no {{DEFAULTSORT:Boniface, Victor 2000 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Real Sapphire F.C. players FK Bodø/Glimt players Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Eliteserien players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Northern Cyprus Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Northern Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen Sportspeople from Akure