Cyriel Dessers: 4 records you didn’t know Super Eagles striker holds

Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers has been in and out of the Nigerian National team, but his records at club level remain solid across several levels.

Born in Tongeren, Belgium, to a Belgian father and a Nigerian mother, Dessers opted to play for the Super Eagles in 2019.

His scoring exploits extend beyond European football. The 31-year-old has won top-scorer honours in the Dutch Eredivisie and Scottish Premiership, establishing himself as one of the most consistent goalscorers across the leagues in which he has played.

Here are four scoring records and milestones that underline Dessers’ career.

4 records you didn’t know Cyriel Dessers holds

1. Joint all-time top scorer in the UEFA Conference League

Dessers’ latest achievement places him alongside Mikael Ishak as the competition’s joint all-time leading scorer, with 13 goals from the league phase and knockout rounds, excluding qualifying matches.

Cyriel Dessers joins Mikael Ishak at the top of the all-time scoring charts 👏#UECLgoalscorers | @Swissquote pic.twitter.com/98MgB0xGpz

— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) October 27, 2026

The Nigerian international reached the milestone with his double against Kairat. His first goal came from the penalty spot before he added a second after the break.

Per UEFA’s all-time scoring chart, Dessers and Ishak lead the standings on 13 goals, ahead of a group of players including Arthur Cabral, Vangelis Pavlidis and Eran Zahavi, who have 12 each.

2. Conference League’s inaugural-season Golden Boot winner

Dessers announced himself on the European stage during Feyenoord’s run to the 2021/22 Conference League final.

He scored 10 goals to finish as the competition’s leading scorer in its inaugural season, one ahead of Roma striker Tammy Abraham.

Two of Dessers’ goals came in Feyenoord’s semi-final first-leg victory over Marseille, helping the Dutch club reach the final in Tirana. Feyenoord ultimately lost 1-0 to Roma, then under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho, but the Nigerian’s individual achievement was one for the history books.

3. Joint top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie

Before his European breakthrough with Feyenoord, Dessers had already demonstrated his goalscoring ability in the Netherlands.

Playing for Heracles Almelo in the 2019/2020 season, he scored 15 goals in 26 Eredivisie appearances, finishing level with Feyenoord’s Steven Berghuis at the top of the league’s scoring chart.

Dessers also registered five assists, meaning he contributed directly to 20 goals during the campaign.

The pair would go on to become teammates at Feyenoord as they went on that historic run to the final of the maiden edition of the UEFA Conference League.

4. Scottish Premiership top scorer with Rangers

Dessers added another domestic scoring honour during his time at Rangers.

The Nigerian forward finished as the Scottish Premiership’s leading scorer in 2024/25, netting 18 league goals to finish ahead of Celtic’s Daizen Maeda and Dundee’s Simon Murray, who both scored 16.

Per the SPFL, Dessers also scored in each of Rangers’ five post-split league fixtures. He finished the season with 29 goals in 54 appearances across all competitions.

Dessers also left Rangers 5th on the list of highest goal contributions in the 21st century, finding the back of the net 52 times, while providing 17 assists in 112 appearances.

The award completed a notable sequence of top-scorer honours: the Eredivisie in 2019/20, the Conference League in 2021/22 and the Scottish Premiership in 2024/25.

Dessers continues to add to his scoring legacy

Dessers’ latest European milestone reinforces a career built on goalscoring consistency across different competitions and countries, although a lot of Rangers fans wouldn’t agree with that claim.

His 13 goals in the Conference League placed him level with Ishak at the top of the competition’s all-time chart, while his three previous Golden Boot achievements show that his scoring record is not confined to a single tournament.