Onome Ebi (born 8 May 1983) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Nigerian club Abia Angels and the Nigeria women’s national team. In 2023 she became the first African footballer, male or female, to play in 6 FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Club career
She played for Bayelsa Queens FC in the Nigerian Women’s Championship before moving to Piteå IF and Djurgårdens IF in Sweden‘s Damallsvenskan. Ebi said “I enjoyed my stay in Turkey because of the good weather. Going to Sweden was a different ball game, as the cold weather made it difficult for me to play good football. The amateur nature of the Swedish league made me launch a return to Turkey for Ataşehir Belediyespor FC in the First League.”
She then played for Turkish sides Düvenciler Lisesispor and Ataşehir Belediyespor at the First League. She made her Champions League debut in August 2012 while playing for Ataşehir Belediyespor.
Ebi returned to the Swedish Damallsvenskan in 2013 to play for Sunnanå SK before going to Belarus to play for FC Minsk in the Belarusian Premier League. While there, she was a member of the team that won the Belarusian Premier League, the Belarusian Women’s Cup and the Belarusian Women’s Super Cup twice.
In both club and international competitions, Ebi plays as the number five in the team due to the significance it holds for her. When she arrived at Minsk, the jersey number was already taken, so she asked for the number 55 instead.
She currently plays for Chinese second division side Henan Jianye, where she signed in 2018.
Onome Ebi has made a significant move by joining Naija Ratels FC of Abuja for the upcoming 2023-2024 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) season, set to kick off on November 15. The veteran footballer , with a remarkable history of six FIFA Women’s World Cups, was officially introduced at a vibrant ceremony in Abuja by the Naija Ratels management. Despite numerous offers from both local and international clubs following her participation in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 40-year-old defender expressed her joy in returning to the local league after more than a decade abroad. Ebi emphasized her deliberate choice of Naija Ratels, citing the club’s youthful profile within the league, coupled with impressive organization and discipline.
International career
Ebi is a member of the Nigerian national team. On 6 July 2019, she became the first African Footballer to play in five[8] Fifa World Cup Tournaments, taking part in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, 2019 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ebi was also a member of the Nigerian squad in the 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 editions of the African Women’s Championship, winning the tournament four times 2010, 2014) 2016 and 2018 .
On 16 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Nigerian squad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. It was her sixth tournament.
