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) Striker
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 16 (10)
International career‡
2023– Nigeria 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 06:48, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2023

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

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. Boniface scored six goals in the competition, including a brace against Union Berlin in the round of 16, becoming 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. On 29 December 2023, he was named in the Nigerian squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.[11] On 8 January 2024, he sustained a muscle injury which forced him to miss the African tournament,[12] and was replaced by Terem Moffi.[13]

Personal Life

Boniface is a Christian.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 December 2023[15]
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 1610225[lower-alpha 2]42316
Career total 10132117281714056
  1. ↑ Includes Norwegian Cup, Belgian Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Four appearances and five goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 19 November 2023[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 202350
Total50

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. ↑ Olu Ibidapo, Ayodele (29 December 2023). "Peseiro names 25 players as Super Eagles seek fourth AFCON title in Cote d'Ivoire". Nigeria Football Federation. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Nigeria's injured Boniface set to miss African Cup of Nations". Reuters. 8 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "CAN 2024. Terem Moffi finalement appelé avec le Nigeria pour remplacer Victor Boniface" (in French). Ouest-France. 9 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Sports, Pulse (25 December 2023). "Victor Boniface: Bayer Leverkusen star visits his childhood friend in church on Christmas eve". Pulse Sports Nigeria. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Victor Boniface at Soccerway
  16. ↑ "Victor Boniface". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "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.
  18. ↑ "2022/23 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  19. ↑ "Victor Boniface named November's Rookie of the Month!". Bundesliga. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Victor Boniface wins Bundesliga Player of the Month for August!". Bundesliga. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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