Stars of Nigeria’s 1996 Atlanta Olympic Super Eagles squad will headline a Legends Football Match in Lagos on November 8, as part of celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the historic team and Africa’s creative economy, The PUNCH reports.

The African Export-Import Bank, through its Creative Africa Nexus programme, and TopTier Sports Management, announced plans for the match, which will be staged at Onikan Stadium as a cornerstone event of the CANEX WKND 2026 programme.

The event will bring together football icons from Africa and beyond to commemorate the mid-1990s Super Eagles squad’s 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph, their run at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and their defining 1996 Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.

As part of CANEX WKND 2026, Afreximbank’s flagship platform for advancing Africa’s creative and cultural industries, the match will showcase the link between sport, entertainment and the broader creative economy, and is expected to attract significant interest from football fans, the creative community and the wider public, with local and international media also in attendance.

Speaking at a press conference, Director of Creatives and Diaspora at Afreximbank, Temwa Gondwe, said the 1996 squad had done more than win Olympic gold.

“The 1996 Super Eagles did more than win Olympic gold; they rewrote the global narrative, proving to the world that African talent is an unstoppable force.”

Today, the intersection of sports, entertainment, and culture is the heartbeat of Africa’s creative economy.

“The Legends Game is more than a celebration of our glorious past; it is a strategic and formidable platform to discuss the future commercialisation and empowerment of African athletes and creatives globally,” she said.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TopTier Sports Management, Chichi Nwoko, whose company is responsible for planning and executing the match, said the event was a way of honouring the 1996 squad while addressing the future of Nigerian sport.

“Thirty years ago, a generation of Nigerian footballers showed the world what African talent was capable of. The Legends Football Game is our way of saying thank you to them, and our chance to ask harder questions: what are we building for this generation and the next?

“We want to build the infrastructure that lets African athletes turn a playing career into a lasting one, on and off the field; this is a huge gap that must be addressed. That is what this partnership with Afreximbank seeks to achieve,” Nwoko said.

The match will also contribute to the broader CANEX WKND 2026 objective of positioning Lagos as a leading destination for Africa’s creative industries, and of demonstrating the power of major cultural and entertainment events to drive economic activity, tourism, investment and international engagement. (PUNCH)