Ademola Lookman: The story behind his decision to represent Nigeria

In partnership with

Foot Africa

·13 February 2026

Ademola Lookman: The story behind his decision to represent Nigeria

José Peseiro explains how the 2024 African Ballon d'Or winner joined the Super Eagles

Lookman Adeola: The story behind his decision to play for Nigeria

OneFootball Videos

The former Super Eagles coach, José Peseiro, has revealed the behind-the-scenes story of Ademola Lookman's choice of sporting nationality. The coach explained that the Atlético Madrid winger was deeply eager to play for England.

According to José Peseiro, who managed Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Ademola Lookman turned to Nigeria only after he completely lost hope of fulfilling his childhood dream of wearing the England shirt."He was still a kid, but he always told me how sad he was, because after winning the U-20 World Cup in 2017 and making it to the U-21 team, England stopped calling him up," Peseiro recalls.

He couldn't understand why; he thought his future was there, but he had to accept it. And since his parents are Nigerian, he agreed to the call-up several months before I arrived.