Alexander Chuka Iwobi MON (/ɪˈwoʊbi/ ih-WOH-bee; born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Fulham and the Nigeria national team.
 Iwobi playing for Arsenal in the 2019 UEFA Europa League final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Chuka Iwobi | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 3 May 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lagos, Nigeria | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Fulham | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2015 | Arsenal | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2019 | Arsenal | 100 | (11) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Everton | 123 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Fulham | 28 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | England U16 | 7 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | England U17 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | England U18 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015– | Nigeria | 78 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:49, 5 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:20, 26 March 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Iwobi began his career at Arsenal, making 149 appearances and scoring fifteen goals. He won the FA Cup in 2017, and scored in the 2019 UEFA Europa League final as well. In August 2019, he transferred to Everton for an initial £28 million fee.
Iwobi represented England up to under-18 level. He made his senior international debut for Nigeria in October 2015, and was part of their squads at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019, 2021 and 2023, finishing third at the 2019 tournament, and runner-up at the 2023 tournament.
Early and personal life
Iwobi was born in Lagos before moving to England at the age of four, following a brief stay in Turkey, and grew up in Newham, London. His maternal uncle is former professional footballer Jay-Jay Okocha. His father, Chuka Iwobi, was also a footballer.
Club career
Arsenal
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Iwobi joined Arsenal while still at primary school, in 2004, and was nearly released by the club at the age of 14 and again at the age of 16.
He was first involved in a first-team match as an unused substitute in a League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion on 25 September 2013. He signed a long-term contract with Arsenal in October 2015.
On 27 October 2015, Iwobi made his first-team debut for the club, starting in a 3–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the Round of 16 of the League Cup. He made his Premier League debut four days later in a 3–0 win against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, as a stoppage time substitute for Mesut Özil. Iwobi made his Champions League debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a 5–1 defeat against Bayern Munich. Iwobi started in the first team for the 2015–16 FA Cup 3rd and 4th round home wins against Sunderland and Burnley respectively.
After getting a first Champions League start in a 3–1 away defeat to Barcelona, Iwobi went on to score two goals in his first two Premier League starts in wins against Everton, and Watford, respectively.
In the following season, Iwobi changed his squad number from 45 to 17, after Alexis Sánchez took number 7 from the departing Tomáš Rosický. He went on to feature throughout Arsenal's victorious FA Cup campaign of 2016–17, winning 2–1 against Chelsea in the final. He achieved further success with Arsenal in the 2017 Community Shield, in which Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties.
In January 2018, a video was released that allegedly showed Iwobi at a late-night party 36 hours before a match. In May 2018, after Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger announced he would be leaving the club, Iwobi described him as an "inspiration" and stated it was sad but exciting.
In August 2018, he signed a new long-term contract with the club, reportedly until 2023.
In January 2019, Iwobi was the subject of alleged racism from Indian actress Esha Gupta, an Arsenal ambassador.
In May 2019 he scored Arsenal's only goal in the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final, in a 4–1 defeat to Chelsea.
Everton
On 8 August 2019, Iwobi signed a five-year contract with Everton. According to the BBC, Arsenal received a fee of an initial £28 million, rising to £34 million with potential add-ons.
Fifteen days after signing, Iwobi made his debut as a substitute for the final half-hour in place of Gylfi Sigurðsson in a 2–0 loss at Aston Villa. On 28 August in the second round of the EFL Cup, he scored his first Everton goal in a 4–2 win at Lincoln City. He scored his first league goal on 1 September in a 3–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and was one of two players singled out for praise by manager Marco Silva afterwards.
Iwobi was named Everton's Players' Player of the Season for 2022–23 after providing a club-high eight assists.
Fulham
Iwobi signed for Fulham on 2 September 2023 for an undisclosed fee.
On 16 September, Iwobi made his debut for Fulham as a 62nd minute substitute in a 1–0 win over Luton Town. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win at Norwich City in the third round of the EFL Cup on 27 September.
On 27 November, Iwobi scored his first Premier League goal for Fulham in a 3–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Craven Cottage. On 6 December, he scored the first league brace of his career in a 5–0 win at home to Nottingham Forest.
On 6 April 2024, in a game against Newcastle United, Iwobi became the Nigerian footballer with most minutes played in the history of the Premier League, surpassing the previous record held by Mikel John Obi.
International career
Eligible to represent England or his birth country Nigeria, Iwobi started as a youth international for England, with whom he won the 2011 Victory Shield. Iwobi earned 11 caps for England at underage level, but went on to declare for Nigeria in 2015. He made his senior debut for the Super Eagles on 8 October, replacing Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute of a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium.
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was not a part of the 18-man final squad.
In August 2017 Iwobi pulled out of Nigeria's squad for that month's World Cup qualifiers due to injury. In October 2017, Iwobi scored for Nigeria in a 1–0 win over Zambia to secure the Super Eagles a spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the competition and featured in all three games as the Super Eagles were knocked out in the group stage.
In April 2019, he said he wanted to emulate his uncle Jay-Jay Okocha by winning the Africa Cup of Nations. He was included in Nigeria's squad for the 2019 tournament. At the tournament he said he would ignore the labelling of Nigeria as favourites. After the tournament he said he was looking forward to returning to club football with Arsenal.
Iwobi was named in the Nigeria squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in 2022. He was given a red card five minutes after coming on as a substitute in the knockout stage match against Tunisia, a match Nigeria lost 0–1. At the 2023 African Cup of Nations, Iwobi was also in the Nigerian squad and played all seven games as Nigeria emerged runner-up, losing the final game to hosts, Ivory Coast.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 4 May 2024
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal | 2015–16 | Premier League | 13 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | 38 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 | |
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 35 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 2 | — | 51 | 6 | ||
| Total | 100 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 149 | 15 | ||
| Everton | 2019–20 | Premier League | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 2 | |||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 3 | |||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 38 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 123 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 9 | ||
| Fulham | 2023–24 | Premier League | 28 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 31 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 251 | 22 | 17 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 320 | 30 | ||
International
- As of match played 26 March 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 6 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 15 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 78 | 10 | |
- As of match played 9 June 2022. Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 October 2016 | Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia | Zambia | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 7 October 2017 | Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Nigeria | Zambia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 14 November 2017 | Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia | Argentina | 2–2 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 4–2 | |||||
| 5 | 2 June 2018 | Wembley Stadium, London, England | England | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 6 | 6 July 2019 | Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt | Cameroon | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 7 | 17 November 2019 | Setsoto Stadium, Maseru, Lesotho | Lesotho | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 8 | 13 November 2020 | Ogbe Stadium, Benin City, Nigeria | Sierra Leone | 1–0 | 4–4 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 9 | 3–0 | |||||
| 10 | 9 June 2022 | Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Nigeria | Sierra Leone | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
Honours
Arsenal
- FA Cup: 2016–17
- FA Community Shield: 2015, 2017
- EFL Cup runner-up: 2017–18
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2018–19
England U16
- Victory Shield: 2011
Nigeria
- Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2023; third place: 2019
Individual
- CAF Youth Player of the Year: 2016
- CAF Team of the Year: 2016 (as a substitute)
- Everton Players' Player of the Year: 2023
Orders
- Member of the Order of the Niger
References
External links
- Profile at the Fulham F.C. website
- Alex Iwobi – UEFA competition record (archive)