When we started Sporting Lagos just three years ago, we said we wanted to build the next generation of Nigerian superstars. Today, that dream is unfolding right before our eyes.
For the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup, Nigeria has named its squad of the very best young footballers in the country. A country of over 200 million people. Thousands of football clubs. And yet, among them all, Sporting Lagos is the only club with more than one player called up.
Ebenezer Harcourt and Odinaka Okoro — two of our own — are heading to represent Nigeria on the biggest youth stage in world football.
Their journey here has been nothing short of remarkable.
Odinaka’s story is one we will never tire of telling. Just two years ago, he was in Owerri, working at an aluminium shop, unsure of where football might take him. We found him there, gave him a chance, and he seized it. He grew into one of the finest players in our academy, became academy captain, and made history as the very first player to graduate from our academy to the first team. Today, he wears green and white for Nigeria at the World Cup.
Ebenezer, our fearless goalkeeper, has been a wall for both Sporting Lagos and the Flying Eagles — from clean sheets to penalty shootout heroics. His performances at the AFCON earned Nigeria’s ticket to this World Cup, and now he’s going there himself to write a new chapter.
We are proud. We are grateful. And we are inspired.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup begins in Chile on 27 September 2025, and the whole Sporting Lagos family will be behind Ebenezer and Odinaka every step of the way.
This is what we set out to do. And this is only the beginning.
