NFF congratulates Simon on Ligue 1 milestone

The Nigeria Football Federation has felicitated the Super Eagles and Nantes forward, Moses Simon, for making his 150th appearance in Ligue 1.

The 29-year-old, who is one of Nigeria’s longest-serving Ligue 1 players, is being recognised after reaching a career milestone in the French top flight this past weekend.

In their 1-1 draw with Angers, Simon picked up his 150th cap in Ligue 1, setting up his side’s only goal scored by Johann Lepenant.

That assist was his 29th for the club, making Simon the top contributor for Les Canaris in that department, breaking the record previously held by Emiliano Sala.

The NFF was one of several stakeholders of world football to have felicitated with Simon, which the football body did on its official Instagram page on Wednesday in a post that read, “Congratulations to our very own super star Moses Simon on reaching 150 games in Ligue 1. Keeping soaring, Super Eagle.”

Simon has spent his entire Ligue 1 career with La Maison Jaune, originally coming on loan from Spanish side Levante in 2019 before moving permanently to the Atlantic coast.

The Nigerian helped Les Canaris win the Coupe de France during the 2021-22 campaign. On Tuesday, the official Ligue 1 X (formerly Twitter) account celebrated Simon’s achievement, calling him “indispensable.”

In his Ligue 1 career, he’s netted 27 goals and 29 assists at Nantes, who are currently fifth in the table after five matchdays.

Simon has made the fifth-most appearances in Ligue 1 among Nigerian players behind Victor Ikpeba (170), Taye Taiwo (191), Wilson Oruma (196), and John Utaka (239).

At the moment, Simon is Nantes’ leading goal scorer domestically this season, with two goals and two assists, and was named their Player of the Month for August. He remains under contract with Nantes until 2026.