Gift Monday

Gift Nyakno Monday (born 9 December 2001) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Nigeria national team.

Club career In the early years of her club career, Monday played for three different clubs in the Nigerian Women's Football League (NWFL). In January 2021, Monday was named the league's Player of the Month for the second consecutive month. Monday inspired Bayelsa Queens to winning the 2021–22 league title and also finished as the season's top scorer.

In September 2022, Monday joined Spanish Liga F club UD Granadilla Tenerife.

On 25 March 2025, NWSL club Washington Spirit acquired Monday from Tenerife in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed her to a three-year contract with an additional team option for 2028. She made her club debut on 12 April 2025, coming on as a substitute for Gabrielle Carle in a 2–0 win over Racing Louisville FC. One week later, Monday recorded her first NWSL start and goal, scoring after stealing the ball from goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse at the goal line in a 1–0 victory over league leaders Orlando Pride. On 28 September, Monday registered the fastest NWSL hat-trick from kickoff in league history, netting three goals in under 36 minutes to help Washington beat the Houston Dash.

International career Monday competed at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in France. In 2019, she captained the national team to its first gold medal in 12 years at the African Games after defeating Cameroon 3–1 on penalties. In February 2021, Monday was named to the senior national team squad ahead of the 2021 Turkish Women's Cup. She was part of the team that won the championship and was the first African team to do so. She scored the eighth goal in the team's 9–0 win over Equatorial Guinea.

On 16 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Nigerian squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.

Monday was called up to the Nigeria squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics as an unrolled alternate player.

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 23 February 2021 Arslan Zeki Demirci Sports Complex, Ilıca, Turkey 8–0 9–0 2021 Turkish Women's Cup 2. 15 September 2021 Onikan Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria 1–0 2–0 Aisha Buhari Cup 3. 2−0 4. 30 November 2023 Onikan Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria 2–0 5–0 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification 5. 29 October 2024 Remo Stars Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria 3–1 4–1 Friendly 6. 5 August 2026 Rabat Olympic Stadium, Rabat, Morocco 2–0 6–2 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations

Honors Individual NWFL Premiership Player of the Month: December 2020, January 2021

International Turkish Women's Cup: 2021