Deborah Abiodun

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Deborah Abiodun
Personal information
Full name Deborah Ajibola Abiodun [1]
Date of birth (2003-11-02) 2 November 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Ibadan, Nigeria
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) [2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Washington Spirit
Number 20
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2023–2024 Pittsburgh Panthers 34 (10)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
Rivers Angels
2025– Washington Spirit 0 (0)
2025 → Dallas Trinity (loan) 13 (0)
International career‡
2022 Nigeria U-20 3 (0)
2022– Nigeria 7 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals as of 26 August 2025

Deborah Ajibola Abiodun OON (born 2 November 2003), popularly known as "Kante", is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), and the Nigeria national team. She played collegiately for the Pittsburgh Panthers, where she was named All-ACC two times.

Contents

Early life and college career

Abiodun was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, and attended Nasarawa State Sport Academy. [3] [4] Her play with Nigeria Women Premier League club Rivers Angels caught the attention of scouts, which led to a full scholarship offer from the University of Pittsburgh. [5]

Pittsburgh Panthers

Abiodun spent two seasons with the Pittsburgh Panthers under the coaching of Randy Waldrum, also her coach with the Nigeria national team. [6] In her freshman season, she made 22 appearances (19 starts) and scored 6 goals with 3 assists, earning Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) all-freshman and third-team All-ACC honors. In the NCAA tournament, she scored two times, in a 6–0 win against Ohio State in the first round and opening a 3–0 win against Memphis in the third round, as Pittsburgh made the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history. [4] [7] In her sophomore season, she played only 12 games (9 starts) as she missed six games due to injury. She scored 4 goals and earned second-team All-ACC honors. [4] [8]

Club career

Washington Spirit

The Washington Spirit announced on January 6, 2025, that they had signed Abiodun to a three-year contract with an option to extend for an additional year. [9]

On February 7, 2025, the Spirit announced that Abiodun and teammate Tamara Bolt would be loaned for the year to USL Super League team Dallas Trinity FC for an undisclosed fee. [10] Washington recalled Abiodun from her loan on August 26, 2025. [11]

International career

Abiodun represented Nigeria at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, starting three games. Nigeria won their group but lost 2–0 to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on August 22. [2] Abiodun received her first senior call-up the following month. [12] She made her senior international debut on September 3, 2022, starting in a 4–0 friendly loss to the United States. [2]

Abiodun was selected to Nigeria's roster for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. [13] She made her tournament debut against Canada on 21 July 2023. She was handed a red card during stoppage time after a VAR review (the first red card of the tournament) as Nigeria held on to a 0–0 draw. [14]

Abiodun started all 3 games for Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nigeria lost each game and finished bottom of their group. [2]

Honours

Nigeria

National Honour

Officer of the Order of the Niger

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 – Squad List: Nigeria (NGA)" (PDF). FIFA. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Deborah Abiodun at Soccerway OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. ↑ "Abiodun Deborah". International Olympic Committee . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Deborah Abiodun". Pittsburgh Panthers . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Sanyaolu, Isaac (22 July 2023). "Deborah Abiodun – Nigeria | Player Profile". Futball Naija. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  6. ↑ Krysinsky, John (3 July 2024). "Randy Waldrum selects Nigeria's women's squad for Olympic tournament including Pitt's Deborah Abiodun". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  7. ↑ Krysinsky, John (24 November 2023). "Final: Florida State 3, Pitt 0 (NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal)". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  8. ↑ Krysinsky, John (6 November 2024). "Pitt's Sarah Schupansky and Deborah Abiodun named to All-ACC Women's Soccer Second Team". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "Washington Spirit Starts Promising 2025 Rookie Class with Two Signings". Washington Spirit. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "Washington Spirit Loans Deborah Abiodun and Tamara Bolt to Dallas Trinity FC". Washington Spirit. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "Washington Spirit Recalls Midfielder Deborah Abiodun from Loan with Dallas Trinity FC". WashingtonSpirit.com. Washington Spirit . Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "USWNT Returns To Action With Match Against Nigeria". United States Soccer Federation. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "Nigeria Women's World Cup 2023 squad: Who's in & who's out?". Goal.com . 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  14. ↑ "Nigeria's Deborah Abiodun handed first red card of FIFA Women's World Cup 2023". The Hindu. 23 July 2023.
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