Alex Iwobi will get his 100 caps for Nigeria if he gets to play in tomorrow’s highly profile friendly game against world cup bound Portugal, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Around ten years ago he was an England youth international, but decided to pledge his international future to Nigeria and made his debut in a friendly against DR Congo in Visé, Belgium in October of 2015.
He has gone on to appear at four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning silver in 2023 and bronze in 2019 and 2025, and played at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
He would have reached the century milestone against Poland in Warsaw on June 3, but was serving a suspension after receiving a red card in Nigeria’s 2-2 friendly draw against Jordan in March in Antalya, Turkey. He was sent off for retaliation after a foul by Jordanian defender Amer Jamous for only his second dismissal in a Nigeria shirt.
He explained how his uncle, the famous Austine Okocha who captained Nigeria and is seen globally as one of the finest players from Africa influenced his decision to switch to Nigeria.
Iwobi said of Okocha: “He always said go and do what’s right, go and enjoy your football. Of course he’s a Nigeria legend and the advice I got from my parents and from him was that before you take a decision on where you want to play, give Nigeria a trial and see how you feel.
“So I actually went to the under 23s and experienced it for myself and I felt a lot like I’m at home. No disrespect to England because I had a good time there but Nigeria is where my heart is. So yeah, he did influence me a bit, but at the at the end of the day, it was ultimately my decision”, he stated.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
