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Former Liverpool winger Rinsola Babajide says representing Nigeria has helped her grow both as a footballer and as a person, insisting she has no regrets about switching from England to the Super Falcons, Footynaija reports.
The 27-year-old AS Roma forward was born in London and represented England at Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 levels after developing through the youth ranks. She also featured for Crystal Palace, Millwall Lionesses, Watford and Liverpool before moving to Spain in 2022. Shortly after joining Real Betis, Babajide changed her international allegiance and made her Nigeria debut in 2023.
Since then, her international career has taken off. She played an important role as the Super Falcons won their record 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title in Morocco in 2025, scoring once and providing an assist in Nigeria’s 3-0 win over Tunisia in her tournament debut.
Looking back on her journey, Babajide thanked England for helping her develop while praising Nigeria for giving her another chance to grow.
“I’ve been blessed to have the best of two worlds,” Babajide told the NFF. “England helped me develop my game from age-grade football; I am forever grateful for that. I have continued to grow as an experienced player with Nigeria and I do not take this for granted.”
She added: “I have learnt resilience and professionalism in both environments and these make me a better player and a better person. We know what it takes to win and as a team, we will give it our all in Morocco to retain the trophy. We are all determined to make Nigeria proud in Morocco.”
Babajide is now preparing for the 2026 WAFCON, which runs from July 26 to August 16 in Morocco. With the tournament also serving as part of the qualification race for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she expects tougher competition after the number of participating teams increased from 12 to 16.
“I think it makes it more exciting. We all know that this year’s Women AFCON is also for qualification to the World Cup finals. Of course, we all want to be there. I think it will make it more competitive but for us, the goal remains the same.”
Despite the added stakes, the Roma winger insists Nigeria’s ambition has not changed.
“For us as a team, whether we are playing just to be crowned champions of Africa or for qualification to next year’s World Cup, the pressure is the same as we want to win. The only pressure actually is the one we put on ourselves. We know what we signed up for as professionals and being the defending champions, we want to retain our trophy.”
Nigeria begin their title defence against Malawi on July 28.
