"Ighalo" redirects here. For the Filipino basketball player, see Kenneth Ighalo.
Odion Ighalo
Ighalo with Watford in 2016
Personal information
Full name
Odion Jude Ighalo[1]
Date of birth
(1989-06-16) 16 June 1989 (age 34)[2]
Place of birth
Lagos, Nigeria
Height
1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Position(s)
Striker
Team information
Current team
Al-Wehda
Number
9
Youth career
2000–2005
Prime
Senior career*
Years
Team
Apps
(Gls)
2005
Prime
5
(0)
2006
Julius Berger
10
(5)
2007–2008
Lyn
20
(9)
2008–2014
Udinese
6
(1)
2009–2010
→ Granada (loan)
26
(16)
2010–2011
→ Cesena (loan)
3
(0)
2011–2014
→ Granada (loan)
95
(16)
2014
→ Watford (loan)
8
(3)
2014–2017
Watford
82
(34)
2017–2018
Changchun Yatai
55
(36)
2019–2021
Shanghai Shenhua
17
(10)
2020–2021
→ Manchester United (loan)
12
(0)
2021–2022
Al-Shabab
31
(21)
2022–2023
Al-Hilal
40
(31)
2023–
Al-Wehda
26
(12)
International career‡
2009
Nigeria U20
3
(0)
2015–
Nigeria
37
(16)
Medal record
Representing Nigeria
Men's football
Africa Cup of Nations
2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 March 2022
Odion Jude Ighalo (born 16 June 1989) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Wehda and the Nigeria national team.
After starting his career at Nigerian clubs Prime and Julius Berger, Ighalo moved to Norwegian club Lyn in 2007. A year later, he was signed by Italian club Udinese, spending most of his tenure on two separate loan spells with Spanish club Granada. In 2014, he signed for Championship club Watford and was integral in the club's promotion to the Premier League in the 2014–15 season. In January 2017, Ighalo joined Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai for a reported £20 million, before moving onto Shanghai Shenhua. In January 2020, Ighalo returned to the Premier League, joining Manchester United on loan, initially until the end of the 2019–20 season; the loan was then extended until January 2021.
Ighalo made his debut for the Nigeria national team in March 2015 against Uganda. He represented the nation at the 2018 World Cup and was the highest goalscorer in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign. He eventually led Nigeria to a third place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where he finished in the competition's Team of the Tournament and was crowned top scorer.[4]
^"Odion Jude Ighalo" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Football Federation. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
^"Odion Ighalo". ESPN. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
^"Odion Ighalo: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
^Ezekute, Nnamdi (19 July 2019). "Ighalo Emerges AFCON 2019 Top Scorer With Five Goals". Complete Sports. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
Odion Jude Ighalo (born 16 June 1989) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Wehda and the Nigeria...
the tournament. In the match for third place, he replaced the injured OdionIghalo at half-time in the team's 1–0 victory over Tunisia. He played a total...
Tyronne Ebuehi, Peter Olayinka, and Henry Onyekuru. On 6 January 2022, OdionIghalo withdrawn from the squad, thus reducing the squad to 27 players. Newly...
Biodun Upe Obende, who plays in Finland, former Manchester United striker OdionIghalo, former Super Eagles defender Taribo West, Chinwendu Ihezuo of the Nigeria...
scored in 52 matches, for an average of 1.96 goals per match. 5 goals OdionIghalo 3 goals Riyad Mahrez Adam Ounas Cédric Bakambu Sadio Mané 2 goals Youcef...
Sutcliffe, Steve (12 March 2020). "LASK 0–5 Manchester United: Stunning OdionIghalo effort sets up Europa League win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 July 2020...
the second half Al Hilal capped off the game with two more goals with OdionIghalo scoring a super hat-trick in a 7–0 decimating win to seal the place in...
Fabio Quagliarella Dino Zoff Seko Fofana Mehdi Benatia Marek Koźmiński OdionIghalo Bruno Fernandes Igor Shalimov Dušan Basta Željko Brkić Aleksandar Luković...
Canadian singer 1988 – Jermaine Gresham, American football player 1989 – OdionIghalo, Nigerian footballer 1990 – John Newman, English musician, singer, songwriter...
13 September 2021. "Ambrose Alli University to honour Aisha Buhari, OdionIghalo, others". The Nation. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019. "Tony...
M. Yesufu, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, economist. Odion Jude Ighalo, professional footballer. Victor Osimhen, professional footballer...
Magnus Odion Ugbesia (born 28 January 1949) is a Nigerian politician who was elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2007 representing the Edo Central Senatorial...
Augustine Eguavoen for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, as a replacement for OdionIghalo who had to withdraw from the tournament, but the call-up was not granted...
Rogelio Funes Mori Monterrey Mohamed Hany Al Ahly Kai Havertz Chelsea OdionIghalo Al-Hilal Mohamed Kanno Al-Hilal Miloš Kosanović Al-Jazira Moussa Marega...