Nigeria national rugby league team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nigeria national rugby league team represents Nigeria in international rugby league football competitions. They made their debut in the 2019 Middle East Africa Championship with a 23-12 victory over Ghana.[1]
Governing bodyNigeria Rugby League
Region Middle East-Africa
CaptainSadiq Adebiyi
Home stadiumTeslim Balogun Stadium
| ||||||
| Team information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governing body | Nigeria Rugby League | |||||
| Region | Middle East-Africa | |||||
| Captain | Sadiq Adebiyi | |||||
| Home stadium | Teslim Balogun Stadium | |||||
| IRL ranking | 37th | |||||
| Team results | ||||||
| First international | ||||||
 Nigeria 23 – 12 Ghana  (Lagos, Nigeria; 2 October 2019) | ||||||
| Biggest win | ||||||
Nigeria 36 – 2 Cameroon  (Lagos, Nigeria; 28 September 2022) | ||||||
Current squad
Squad for 2019 MEA Rugby League Championship;[2]
- Bolu Fagborun
- Jude Abrackson
- Joshua Effiong
- Gabriel John
- Alex Richard
- Samuel Akpabio
- Nuhu Ibrahim
- Shakirudeen Alameen
- Nelson Celestine
- Habib Isazka
- Steven James
- Temitope Olawale
- Kiki Stephen
- Precious John
- Kelvin Azuka
- David Olwale
- Sulymon Oyebola
- Stephen Akpawan
- Malu Williams
- Sadiq Adebiyi
- Jubril Olajude
- Isah Lawal-Saulawa
Competitive record
Results
Win Draw Loss
| Date | Home | Result | Away | Competition | Venue | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 October 2019 | Nigeria |
25–12 | Ghana |
2019 MEA Championship | Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos |
|
| 5 October 2019 | Nigeria |
38–10 |  Morocco |
|||
| 28 September 2022 | Nigeria |
36–2 | Cameroon |
2022 MEA Championship | University of Ghana stadium, Legon Accra |
|
| 4 October 2022 | Ghana |
4–30 | Nigeria |
|||
| 2 November 2025 |  Cumbria |
6–70 | Nigeria |
Friendly | Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness |
|
| 23 November 2025 | Ghana |
36–24 | Nigeria |
International | University of Ghana stadium, Legon Accra |
IRL Rankings
| Official rankings as of December 2025 | |||
| Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
| 1 |  |  Australia | 100 |
| 2 | |  New Zealand | 82 |
| 3 | |  England | 74 |
| 4 | |  Samoa | 56 |
| 5 | |  Tonga | 54 |
| 6 | |  Papua New Guinea | 47 |
| 7 | |  Fiji | 34 |
| 8 | |  France | 24 |
| 9 | |  Cook Islands | 24 |
| 10 | |  Serbia | 23 |
| 11 | |  Netherlands | 22 |
| 12 | |  Ukraine | 21 |
| 13 | |  Wales | 18 |
| 14 | |  Ireland | 17 |
| 15 | |  Greece | 15 |
| 16 | |  Malta | 15 |
| 17 | |  Italy | 11 |
| 18 | |  Jamaica | 9 |
| 19 |  1 |  Poland | 7 |
| 20 | 1 |  Lebanon | 7 |
| 21 | 1 |  Norway | 7 |
| 22 |  3 |  United States | 7 |
| 23 | |  Germany | 7 |
| 24 | |  Czech Republic | 6 |
| 25 | |  Chile | 6 |
| 26 | 1 |  Philippines | 5 |
| 27 | 1 |  Scotland | 5 |
| 28 | 2 |  South Africa | 5 |
| 29 | 1 |  Canada | 5 |
| 30 | 1 |  Brazil | 3 |
| 31 | 1 | Morocco | 3 |
| 32 | 1 |  North Macedonia | 3 |
| 33 | 1 |  Argentina | 3 |
| 34 | 1 |  Montenegro | 3 |
| 35 | 4 | Ghana | 2 |
| 36 | 5 |  Kenya | 2 |
| 37 | 3 | Nigeria | 2 |
| 38 | 2 |  Albania | 1 |
| 39 | 2 |  Turkey | 1 |
| 40 | 2 |  Bulgaria | 1 |
| 41 | 1 | Cameroon | 0 |
| 42 | 1 |  Japan | 0 |
| 43 | 1 |  Spain | 0 |
| 44 | 3 |  Colombia | 0 |
| 45 | |  Russia | 0 |
| 46 | |  El Salvador | 0 |
| 47 | |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 |
| 48 | |  Hong Kong | 0 |
| 49 | |  Solomon Islands | 0 |
| 50 | |  Vanuatu | 0 |
| 51 | |  Hungary | 0 |
| 52 | |  Latvia | 0 |
| 53 | |  Denmark | 0 |
| 54 | |  Belgium | 0 |
| 55 | |  Estonia | 0 |
| 56 | |  Sweden | 0 |
| 57 | |  Niue | 0 |
| Complete rankings at www.internationalrugbyleague.com | |||
