One year ago, Zadock was with the Ikon Allah Academy, playing football on dusty pitches and concrete, until a scouting event altered his career, and a year later he found himself with Brighton in the Premier League from AIK Stockholm in Sweden.
Like Zadock, many players make the move to other countries in search of experience and life-changing opportunities as part of the Nigerian football player export boom.
In the latest CIES Observatory player exports for 2026, Nigeria is once again ranked 6th, maintaining its powerhouse status as the top player-exporting country in Africa and top-10 in the world.
A total of 565 players of Nigerian origin moved to around 75 countries in the 2025-2026 season compared to over 300 that moved in 2021.
Czech Republic (46), Serbia (29), and Slovakia (23) are the top three destinations for Nigerian players.
Nigerian Football Player Export: Czechia Pathway
According to the CIES Migration Atlas, Czechia is the top destination for Nigerian player exports. Also, according to FBref, Nigeria is the second-most popular foreign nationality in the 2025/26 Czech First League, both for number of players to feature and their combined minutes; only Slovakia has more.
Approximately 45 Nigerian players are competing across the top two tiers of Czech football and its youth ranks.
A strategic pathway brings many Nigerian players to the country, with several top-flight and standout U19 prospects dominating the league.
African Football Academy Pathways
One of the strategic pathway structures is Babawo Mohammed’s appointment by Banik Ostrava as the chief scout for Africa.
Babawo Mohammed sits at the intersection of Nigerian players to Czechia as a top scout and agent, and in an exclusive chat with SportsIntel, explains why Czechia is the destination of choice for Nigerian players.
“Playing time gives African players the opportunity to showcase themselves and to develop themselves because they don’t have a limit of foreigners in their youth. And their youth league is very very competitive, more than many countries in Europe. So that’s the reason a lot of your African players are going there.”
Just like Banik Ostrava, Slavia Prague established a multi-year partnership with the Right2Win Academy, headquartered in Umuahia with strong ties to the capital city of Abuja.
CIES football observatory 2025; World Ranking
Brazil retains its position as the world’s leading exporter of men’s footballers, currently contributing nearly 1,500 players to international markets.
Among the top 25 exporting nations, the total number of expatriated players has increased by 33% compared to 2021, highlighting a notable rise in international migration at the top of the market, with growth in the next 25 nations reported at 16%.
The top three markets collectively account for nearly one third of all exports from the group, with France reporting the largest absolute increase.
Significant growth was also recorded in Spain, Nigeria and Portugal, whilst only one country confirmed a decline in the number of players exported.
