Francisca Ordega

Francisca Ordega (born 19 October 1993) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for CSKA Moscow in the Russian Women's Football Championship.

Francisca Ordega
Ordega with Piteå IF in 2014
Personal information
Full name Francisca Ordega[1]
Date of birth (1993-10-19) 19 October 1993[1]
Place of birth Gboko, Benue State, Nigeria
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 CSKA Moscow
Number 18
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Bayelsa Queens
2011–2012 Rivers Angels
2012–2013 Rossiyanka
2013–2014 Piteå IF 34 (4)
2015–2018 Washington Spirit 41 (9)
2016–2017 → Sydney FC (loan) 6 (1)
2017–2018 → Atlético Madrid (loan) 8 (0)
2019–2021 Shanghai Shengli
2021 Levante 3 (0)
2021– CSKA Moscow 27 (12)
International career‡
2010 Nigeria U17
2012 Nigeria U20
2010– Nigeria 26[2] (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:55, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 June 2019

She represents Nigeria women's national football team (Super Falcons) at both the FIFA Women's World Cup and African Women's Championship. She was also nominated for best female African footballer.[3][4][5][6]

Playing career

Bayelsa Queens

Ordega began her career at the youth level for Bayelsa Queens, before being promoted to the professional side in 2008 where she played at Nigerian Women's Championship.[6]

Rivers Angels

In 2011, she moved to Rivers Angels, one of the top clubs in Nigerian Women's Championship.[6]

WFC Rossiyanka

In 2012, Ordega left Nigeria to sign with Russian champions Rossiyanka of the Russian Women's Football Championship.[6] In November 2012, it was announced that Ordega and Rossiyanka mutually parted ways.[7]

Piteå IF

In 2013, Ordega signed for Piteå IF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan.[8] She scored her first goal on 26 May 2013 in a drawing effort against Vittsjö GIK.[9] Between 2013 and 2015, she made 34 appearances and score 4 goals during her time in Sweden.[10]

Washington Spirit

Ordega then moved across the North Atlantic and signed with Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League.[6][11] In her first season with the Spirit, Ordega scored three goals and made two assists. She returned in 2016 to score two goals during the regular season. The Nigerian's most memorable Spirit goal came in the NWSL Semifinal when she scored in extra time to send the Spirit to its first ever NWSL Championship.[6]

In July 2017, Ordega suffered a knee injury that would limit her minutes for the remainder of the season.[12] Despite the injury, she would still earn 14 appearances and scoring 4 goals.

Loan to Sydney FC

In December 2016, Sydney FC signed Ordega on loan from Washington for the remainder of the 2016–17 W-League season.[13] The loan made her the first African to play in the Australian W-League.[14][15] Ordega would make six appearances and score once helping Sydney earn 3rd place in the league.

Loan to Atlético Madrid

On 20 October 2017, Ordega joined Spanish club Atlético Madrid on a six-month loan from Washington.[16][17] She made her debut on 1 November 2017 against Barcelona.[18]

Move to Shanghai WFC

Ordega secured a one-year move to Shanghai WFC[19]

Levante UD

In April 2021, Ordega signed a deal with Levante UD running until 2023, in an attempt to boost their pursuit of qualifying for Champions League football for the first time in their history.[20] Ordega made her debut on 22 May 2021 against Madrid CFF, coming an as a substitute in the 67th minute in a 3–2 victory.[21]

International career

Ordega represented the Nigeria women's national football team in all levels. With the under 17, she played the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and with the under 20 at 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. At senior level she played in the FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments of 2011, 2015 and 2019.[22][23] At the latter she opened her World Cup account by scoring Nigeria's equalizing goal against Sweden on 8 June 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The pulsating match ended 3–3 in the opening game of Group D.[24]

She was also part of Nigeria's squads at the African Women's Championship of 2010 and 2014, winning both tournaments.[3]

In 2018, She was also a member of the Nigerian squad who won the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations in Ghana, A tournament where she had two goals and two assists and won the woman of the match award at the final game against South Africa.[25] She was part of the Super Falcons squad that won the 2021 Turkish Women's Cup[26] in Antalya, Turkey in February and thereby becoming the first African team to win the invitational tournament.

On 16 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Nigerian squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.[27]

International goals

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1
1 November 2010Sinaba Stadium, Daveyton, South Africa Mali
5–0
5–0
2010 African Women's Championship
2
17 October 2014Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek, Namibia Namibia
2–0
2–0
2014 African Women's Championship
3
8 June 2015Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg, Canada Sweden
3–3
3–3
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
4
20 November 2016Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe, Cameroon Mali
1–0
6–0
2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations
5
21 November 2018Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Cape Coast, Ghana Zambia
2–0
4–0
2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations
6
24 November 2018 Equatorial Guinea
1–0
6–0

Honours
Rivers Angels
Atlético Madrid
Nigeria

References
  1. "List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  2. "Profile". FIFA. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  3. "Oparanozie, Ordega eye 2014 African Women Championship trophy". Goal.com. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  4. "Francisca Ordega". Goal.com. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. "Ordega on Soccerway". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  6. "Profile". Washington Spirit. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  7. Owerri Tunde Liadi (13 November 2012). "Ordega parts ways with Rossiyanka". thenationonlineeng.net. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  8. "Official: Francisca Ordega Inks Deal With Pitea IF". allnigeriasoccer.ng. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  9. Israel Samuel (27 March 2013). "Ordega opens goal account in Sweden". futaa.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  10. Ifreke Inyang (26 March 2015). "Ordega delighted to join Washington Spirit". independent.ng. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. "Falconets' Francisca Ordega signs for Swedish club Jitex BK – report". Goal.com. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  12. Jason Anderson (13 July 2017). "Washington Spirit lose Francisca Ordega to knee injury". Black and Red United. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  13. Jason Anderson (22 December 2016). "Washington Spirit striker Francisca Ordega joins Sydney FC on loan". Black and Red United. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  14. "Sydney FC bring Nigerian star Francisca Ordega to W-League". ESPN FC. 22 December 2016.
  15. "Washington Spirit loans forward Francisca Ordega to Sydney FC". NWSL. 22 December 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  16. "Francisca Ordega ficha por el Atlético de Madrid femenino" [Francisca Ordega signed for Atlético Madrid women]. Sport (in Spanish). 20 October 2017.
  17. Samuel Ahmadu (20 October 2017). "Francisca Ordega joins Atletico Madrid on loan from Washington Spirit". goal.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  18. "Francisca Ordega makes debut with Spanish league side Atletico Madrid". Washington Spirit. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  19. Admin (March 2019). "Super Falcons star Francisca Ordega joins Chinese side Shanghai WFC". Pulse. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  20. "El Levante UD Femenino firma a la delantera Francisca Ordega hasta 2023". LevanteUD (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  21. "Madrid vs. Levante - 22 May 2021 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  22. "2019 FIFA Women's World Cup - Wikipedia". en.m.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  23. "FIFA player stats". FIFA. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  24. "The O's upset Sweden in pulsating 3 all thriller". Women's Soccer United. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  25. Adeboye Amosu (1 December 2018) "Ordega Named Woman Of The Match In Nigeria Win Vs South Africa" , " Complete Sports Nigeria "
  26. "Nigeria 9-0 Equatorial Guinea: Super Falcons clinch Turkish Women's Cup in style | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  27. Ryan Dabbs (14 June 2023). "Nigeria Women's World Cup 2023 squad: most recent call ups". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
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