Christian Monday Akpan is hungry for his first senior Super Eagles cap, but a late call up means the Racing Genk defender will arrive at the Warsaw camp on Thursday, ruling him out of the Poland game and setting up the Portugal fixture on June 10 as his most likely debut opportunity.
Christian Akpan had one day’s notice. Eric Chelle’s staff contacted the Racing Genk defender on the morning of June 1, extending a late invitation to the Super Eagles squad ahead of the Poland and Portugal friendlies. The 21 year old from Uyo Itam in Akwa Ibom State was eager to accept, but the timing has made the Poland game on Wednesday an unlikely starting point. Reports indicate Akpan will arrive at the Eagles’ base in Warsaw on Thursday, which effectively rules him out of the PGE Narodowy fixture. His real target is the Portugal game in Leiria on June 10.
Despite missing Wednesday’s match, Akpan’s inclusion in the squad is significant in itself. He had only just made his first team debut for Genk on the Sunday before the call up arrived, featuring the full 120 minutes of a Belgian Pro League play off match against AA Gent that ended 1-1 before Genk lost on penalties. That performance earned him Man of the Match recognition and, within hours, brought Chelle’s attention. It is the kind of rapid progression that explains why Genk invested in him when they signed him from ASEC Mimosas in January 2023. Fans keen to watch Akpan’s international debut against Portugal can check the Bet9ja promotion code to get set up ahead of the Leiria fixture.
A Player Built on Positional Flexibility
What makes Akpan an attractive option for Chelle is the range of positions he can cover. He is primarily listed as a left back but is naturally right footed, a combination that gives coaches flexibility to use him on either flank or in a deeper central role. According to a profile published by Afrik-Foot, he is also capable of operating as a defensive midfielder or central midfielder, which means his versatility extends well beyond the full-back line. In an international squad regularly dealing with late withdrawals and absent regulars, a player who can slot in across multiple positions is exactly the kind of depth cover a coach values.
His 2025/26 season was spent primarily with Jong Genk in the Belgian Challenger Pro League, Genk’s second team, where he accumulated close to 800 minutes of competitive football across seven appearances. His defensive awareness, interceptions, and positional discipline drew consistent attention from within the club, eventually earning him the step up to the first team for the Europa League play-off campaign and then the Pro League play-off fixture that preceded his national call-up. At 21, he is still developing, but the evidence in Belgium suggests he can handle the jump in level. New Bet9ja users looking to place bets on the Nigeria vs Portugal game can use the claim the YOHAIG code ahead of kick-off in Leiria.
The Path From Ivory Coast to Warsaw
Before Genk, Akpan’s development ran through ASEC Mimosas in Ivory Coast, one of Africa’s most respected football academies with a long history of producing players who went on to play at the highest level across the continent and Europe. His time at ASEC was the stage that attracted European interest, and Genk’s January 2023 signing of him reflected a belief that the Akwa Ibom-born defender had the foundation to develop into a top-level professional. He joined as a teenager and worked his way from the club’s youth structure through Jong Genk before the first-team door opened this season.
Christian Monday Akpan: Quick Profile
- Date of Birth: January 29, 2005
- Birthplace: Uyo Itam, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
- Club: Racing Genk (Belgium)
- Primary position: Left-back (also: right-back, defensive midfielder, central midfielder)
- Shirt number: 65
- Contract: Until June 2027 (Genk hold a two-year extension option)
- Previous club: ASEC Mimosas (Ivory Coast)
- Height: Approximately 1.76m
Akpan’s call up also came with a note of caution on timing. The squad initially heard he would arrive on the evening of June 1, but updated reports confirmed Thursday as his actual arrival date, making Warsaw his introduction to international camp rather than his debut stage. The Portugal game in Leiria on June 10 is where Chelle will have the full complement of his squad available, and that is where Akpan is expected to get his first senior cap if he performs well in training during the intervening days. For those planning to watch Nigeria’s full European double header, the Bet9ja sports registration page is worth visiting before both kick-offs.
📌 Did You Know?
- ASEC Mimosas, where Christian Akpan developed before joining Genk, is based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and is one of Africa’s most celebrated football academies. The club has produced players who went on to represent Ivory Coast, Senegal, and several other African nations at the highest level, as well as players who played for top European clubs including Arsenal, where several ASEC graduates passed through in the early 2000s.
- Racing Genk’s Challenger Pro League team, known as Jong Genk, has been a development pathway for several players who went on to have significant careers at the top level. The Belgian Challenger Pro League is the second division of Belgian football and is specifically structured to allow clubs’ development squads to compete at a competitive level against full professional teams.
- Akpan’s Genk contract expires in June 2027, with the club holding an option to extend it for a further two years. His market value on Soccerway is listed at approximately €190,000 at this stage of his career, a figure that could rise substantially if his Super Eagles appearances are followed by more regular first-team football in the Belgian Pro League.
- Genk are one of Belgium’s most active clubs in terms of African player recruitment. The club also had Tolu Arokodare, the Nigerian striker, on their books during his spell at the club before his move to OGC Nice. The connection between Nigerian talent and Genk’s development structure has created a visible pipeline that Akpan is now part of.
- The Nigeria vs Portugal friendly on June 10 will be played at the Estadio Dr Magalhaes Pessoa in Leiria, a city in central Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo, who continues to play for Portugal, could be involved in that fixture, meaning Akpan’s potential debut could come against one of the most famous players in football history.
- Akpan’s positional versatility, covering left back, right back, defensive midfielder, and central midfielder, mirrors the approach Nigeria’s coaching staff under Chelle have consistently prioritised. Several players in the current Super Eagles setup, including Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Abdullahi Bewene, were called up in part because of their ability to operate across multiple positions, making Akpan a natural fit for Chelle’s squad-building philosophy.
- The Belgian Pro League play off system, in which Akpan featured for Genk’s first team against AA Gent, is a unique feature of Belgian football. After the regular season, the top clubs enter a championship play-off round where points are reset to half of their regular season total. This format creates high-pressure, competitive matches in the final weeks of the campaign, making Akpan’s 120-minute performance against Gent a genuine test of quality rather than a dead-rubber run-out.
