Moses Simon Has Won His Hundredth Cap

Sports

Uyo · Saturday 26 September 2026

Moses Simon made his 100th appearance for the Super Eagles in Friday's 2-1 win over Madagascar. He is the fifth Nigerian to reach the mark, after Ahmed Musa, Vincent Enyeama, Joseph Yobo and Alex Iwobi. He made his debut on 25 March 2015.

football winger running ball pitch Photograph by Emilio Garcia via Unsplash.

We asked the question two weeks ago

On 13 September we asked whether Simon was a Super Eagles legend or just the one who stayed, and argued that his real case was availability: a decade of being fit, released by his club and on the plane, through managerial changes and injury crises that removed almost everybody else. One hundred caps is that argument turned into a single number.

Nigeria's 100-cap players
Vincent Enyeama
Joseph Yobo
Ahmed Musa
Alex Iwobi
Moses Simon

Two of the five played in the same match on Friday.

Why so few Nigerians get there. A hundred caps needs more than a decade at the top, no serious injuries at the wrong time, no fallings-out with a federation that has changed coaches constantly, and clubs willing to release a player for friendlies as well as qualifiers. Nigeria has produced far better players than this list suggests. It has produced very few who stayed available for that long.

Talent gets a player his first cap. Everything else gets him his hundredth.

What the milestone is really rewarding

Not a single tournament or a highlight. A career spent answering the call when it came, on good days and in bad windows, for coaches who did not always pick him first. That is an undervalued quality in every national team and particularly in one that has so often struggled to get its best players in the same place at the same time.

Reporting: Vanguard, THISDAY, Legit.ng and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

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If you argue about Nigerian football for a living, you may as well dress like it. Caps and tees are in the TalkTalkNigeria store, and Naira pricing is here.