Victor Boniface

Victor Okoh Boniface (born 23 December 2000) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Nigeria national team.

Victor Boniface
Personal information
Full name Victor Okoh Boniface
Date of birth (2000-12-23) 23 December 2000
Place of birth Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 22
Youth career
0000–2019 Real Sapphire
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2022 Bodø/Glimt 48 (13)
2022–2023 Union SG 37 (9)
2023– Bayer Leverkusen 8 (7)
International career‡
2023– Nigeria 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:10, 21 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 October 2023

Club career

Bodø/Glimt

Boniface signed for Bodø/Glimt from Real Sapphire on 4 March 2019.[2] He suffered a ligament injury only two weeks after signing for Glimt, which was said to be likely to keep him on the sidelines for the duration of the 2019 season.[3] Boniface was selected to the Nigeria U-20 squad to play the 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, but had to withdraw from the squad due to injury.[4] In September 2019 he nonetheless made his league debut for the club.[5]

Union SG

On 8 August 2022, Boniface signed a four-year contract with Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.[6] Union reached the quarter-finals of the 2022–23 Europa League, in which Boniface managed to score six goals in the competition, to be the joint top scorer along with Marcus Rashford.[7]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 22 July 2023, Boniface signed for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen on a contract until 2028, and was assigned the number 22 shirt.[8] He made his Bundesliga debut as a starter on 19 August, in a 3–2 home victory over RB Leipzig.[9] The following week, on 26 August, he scored his first Bundesliga goals by netting a brace at the Borussia Park in a 3–0 away derby win against Borussia Mönchengladbach.[10]

International career

Boniface made his debut for the Nigeria senior team on 10 September 2023, coming on in the 64th minute for Taiwo Awoniyi. He provided an assist in that match to Samuel Chukwueze.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 26 October 2023[11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bodø/Glimt 2019 Eliteserien 8100–81
2020 Eliteserien 246003[lower-alpha 2]2278
2021 Eliteserien 10000010
2022 Eliteserien 1565310[lower-alpha 3]53014
Total 4813531376623
Union SG 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 3794210[lower-alpha 2]65117
Bayer Leverkusen 2023–24 Bundesliga 87113[lower-alpha 2]21210
Career total 9329106261512950
  1. Includes Norwegian Cup, Belgian Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Four appearances and five goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Bodø/Glimt

Individual

References
  1. "Victor Boniface". Bundesliga. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. "Victor Boniface signes for Glimt". Bodø Nu. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  3. Nygaard, Jacob Sundblom (23 March 2019). "Victor Boniface suffers injury". Eurosport.no. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  4. "Paul Aigbogun Makes Late Change To Flying Eagles Squad For U20 AFCON – Victor Boniface Out, Pascal Durugbor In". Own Goal Nigeria. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  5. Victor Boniface at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
  6. "Welcome Victor Boniface". Union SG. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  7. "Victor Boniface: Who is Bayer Leverkusen's new Nigerian striker?". Bundesliga. 26 August 2023.
  8. "Bayer 04 sign Victor Boniface". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 22 July 2023.
  9. "Leverkusen trumpft auf und schlägt Leipzig" (in German). ZDF. 21 August 2023.
  10. "3:0! Bayer Leverkusen mit Gala bei Borussia Mönchengladbach" (in German). Bundesliga. 26 August 2023.
  11. Victor Boniface at Soccerway
  12. "2022/23 Europa League top scorers: Boniface, Rashford at the summit". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  13. "2022/23 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  14. "Victor Boniface wins Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for August 2023". Bundesliga. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  15. "Victor Boniface wins Bundesliga Player of the Month for August!". Bundesliga. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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