Esther Okoronkwo set to miss rest of 2026 season with injury
Nigeria forward Esther Okoronkwo is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season after suffering an injury, AFC Toronto head coach Marko Milanovic has confirmed.
The setback is another major blow for the defending Northern Super League Supporters’ Shield champions, who are pushing to retain their regular-season crown.
Okoronkwo’s injury will also rule her out of Nigeria’s CAF Women’s Olympic qualifier against Comoros next month, as the Super Falcons begin their campaign to secure one of Africa’s two places at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of Toronto’s Northern Super League clash with Calgary Wild on Sunday, Milanovic confirmed that the 29-year-old would not feature again this season.
“She won’t be available for the game, and we don’t expect her to come back this season,” Milanovic said.
The coach revealed that the club is yet to establish precisely when the injury occurred or reach a definitive diagnosis, despite Okoronkwo undergoing several MRI scans.
“It’s hard to know exactly where it happened. It could have been just wear and tear over a longer period,” he explained.
Milanovic also admitted that Okoronkwo’s participation at the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations may have contributed to the problem, although the club has been unable to determine exactly when the injury worsened.
“Obviously, WAFCON was a factor as well, but we’re not quite sure where the injury got worse,” he said.
“She’s had multiple MRIs since the injury. Some of the things presented themselves a little differently than what they were, despite MRI usually being able to show you everything.”
He added that Toronto was still awaiting confirmation from medical experts, but expected the Nigerian international to remain sidelined for the rest of the year.
The timing is particularly unfortunate for Toronto, who welcome Calgary Wild to BMO Field on Sunday while sitting third in the NSL standings with 31 points, just three behind leaders Montreal Roses with seven matches remaining.
Toronto will also be without leading scorer Kaylee Hunter and midfielder Olivia Chisholm, who are currently away with Canada at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.
For Okoronkwo, the injury brings a premature end to a campaign in which she had struggled for consistent playing time following an earlier injury.
She opened the season in impressive fashion, scoring once and providing an assist in Toronto’s 3-2 victory over Vancouver Rise on April 24. However, she has managed only 231 league minutes this season, recording one goal and one assist.
That represents a significant decline from her outstanding debut campaign in 2025, when she scored 11 goals and registered a league-leading eight assists across the regular season and playoffs.
Her performances helped Toronto win the inaugural NSL Supporters’ Shield, while she was also named in the league’s Team of the Season.
Okoronkwo’s club success was mirrored on the international stage as she played a key role in Nigeria’s historic triumph at the 2025 WAFCON in Morocco.
The forward finished the tournament with six assists and was instrumental in the Super Falcons’ remarkable comeback against Morocco in the final, where Nigeria recovered from two goals down to win 3-2. Okoronkwo converted a penalty and created two of Nigeria’s other goals.
She was named Player of the Match in the final, selected in CAF’s Team of the Tournament and later voted the Super Falcons’ Fans’ Player of the Tournament. She narrowly missed out on the official CAF Player of the Tournament award, which went to her Nigeria teammate and captain, Rasheedat Ajibade.
However, injuries limited her impact at the following WAFCON, where Nigeria endured a disappointing campaign.
Okoronkwo started the Super Falcons’ opening 3-2 defeat to Malawi but played only 10 minutes against Zambia. She was an unused substitute in Nigeria’s 6-2 victory over Egypt before coming off the bench in the quarter-final defeat to Cameroon.
She subsequently missed Nigeria’s 2-1 defeat to South Africa, a result that ended the Super Falcons’ hopes of reaching the intercontinental playoffs for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The defeat also saw Nigeria miss out on the Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history.
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