He came on for Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute of a friendly defeat to DR Congo in Belgium in October 2015, nineteen years old and representing a country he had left as an eight month old baby. On Wednesday evening in Leiria, Alexander Chuka Iwobi will win his 100th cap for Nigeria.
The number 100 tends to arrive quietly in international football. It is rarely the moment a player scores the decisive goal in a final or delivers the performance that defines a tournament. It is usually a pre-match ceremony, a brief acknowledgement from the crowd, and then a game of football that must be played regardless of the occasion. For Alex Iwobi, who has been wearing the green and white of Nigeria in good times and difficult ones for nearly eleven years, the milestone carries a weight that the statistics alone do not fully capture.
“I am proud to be where I am today proud to wear the green-and-white,” Iwobi said in remarks to the NFF ahead of the Portugal friendly. “I am grateful to everyone, including the coach who called me up to the team for the first time. I have no regrets choosing Nigeria.” That final sentence is the one that resonates most clearly against the backdrop of his story. Iwobi grew up in Newham, London, having arrived in England as a baby from Lagos, and came through Arsenal’s academy while representing England at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-18 level. He was never capped by England at senior level. His heart, as he has explained on multiple occasions, was always Nigerian. Nigeria fans planning to watch the Portugal friendly and back the Super Eagles can follow the match through the FootballInNigeria.com.ng Bet9ja promotion code page for the best pre-match offers before Wednesday’s kick-off in Leiria.
The Journey From Visé to Leiria
Iwobi made his senior debut in a 2-0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium, on October 8, 2015. He came on as a substitute for Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute, a teenager finding his way into a senior setup that would become the defining professional relationship of his career. “I first went to the Nigeria U23 team camp and felt at home,” he recalled. “I had represented England at youth level but always felt Nigeria was home.” His father Chuka was part of that conversation, though not in the way that erases choice. “My father always told me to go out there and enjoy my football, and make the decision that I felt was good for me. He was part of the decision but he didn’t force it down on me.”
The career that followed has included moments that will outlast any statistics page. In October 2017, with Nigeria needing a result against Zambia at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, it was Iwobi who scored the goal. His parents were in the stands. They celebrated together after the final whistle in what he described as his most memorable Super Eagles moment. “I loved the occasion because my dad and my mum were both at the stadium and saw it all,” he said. He went on to play all three group-stage matches at Russia 2018, Nigeria’s last World Cup appearance to date. He was part of the squad that finished third at AFCON 2019, runner-up at AFCON 2023, and third again at the 2025 edition in Egypt. He is now heading into Wednesday’s match against Portugal having joined the squad in Leiria after the 2-2 draw with Poland in Warsaw, ready to collect the cap that moves him into the company of only a handful of Nigerians who have reached the century. Ahead of Wednesday’s Portugal clash, fans can get full Bet9ja access on mobile through Bet9ja’s mobile version for live match updates and in-play offers throughout the game.
What His Father Said
Chuka Iwobi, a barrister who has watched his son’s entire Super Eagles journey from first call-up to the brink of 100 caps, spoke with a clarity about what this milestone represents that goes well beyond football. “When he made his debut in 2015, little did we know that this was the beginning of an amazing and incredible journey which would lead to him achieving the milestone of a hundred caps and with the potential of many more caps to come,” he said. The description of his son that followed was both a father’s testimony and a statement of fact borne out by a decade of appearances across qualifiers, tournaments, and friendlies in which Iwobi’s commitment was never questioned: “Alex loves playing for the nation and always gives his best. No one can ever question his commitment, devotion and patriotism while wearing the green-and-white.”
The Iwobi family carries a football story that spans generations. Alex’s maternal uncle is Jay-Jay Okocha, Nigeria’s most beloved creative midfielder, a player whose global fame and technical excellence made him one of the iconic names in African football history. That lineage is part of Alex’s story, though he has built his own identity and his own relationship with Nigerian football supporters that stands independent of it. Reaching 100 caps for a country he chose, in a career in which he has experienced both the high of a World Cup qualification goal and the low of missing two consecutive tournaments with this generation of players, is a genuine career landmark.
A Milestone With Perspective Still Attached
Iwobi did not allow the milestone to overshadow the disappointment that sits alongside it. “Yes, I would have loved to win the AFCON and perhaps be with the Eagles at the FIFA World Cup that is about to kick off in a few days’ time, but no regrets,” he said. The honesty in that sentence is the honesty of someone who has given ten years to a cause and understood that results do not always follow effort. Nigeria are not at the 2026 World Cup. Iwobi’s 100th cap will be earned in a friendly against the nation hosting that same World Cup, on a Tuesday evening in Leiria when the tournament that should have included him is already four days into its group stage.
He added, with the lightness of someone who has made peace with where he is: “After 10 years and eight months, I won’t say I am a legend; I only see myself as a Super Eagles player. It feels great to be looking at a 100th cap, and on a lighter note, I wish I can add another 100 caps.” Ahmed Musa holds Nigeria’s all time appearance record with 111 caps. At 30 years old with a Fulham contract running until 2028, Iwobi’s trajectory suggests he will overtake that figure before he is done. Wednesday is not the end of the story. It is the round number at which the story pauses to take stock of what has been built. The full coverage of Nigeria vs Portugal, including pre-match analysis and latest Super Eagles news, is available at the latest Bet9ja promotion code page before the Leiria friendly kicks off.
📌 Did You Know?
- Alex Iwobi’s full name is Alexander Chuka Iwobi. He was born on May 3, 1996, in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to England at just eight months old, growing up in Newham, London, while maintaining a deep Nigerian cultural identity at home that his parents deliberately preserved.
- Iwobi is the nephew of Jay-Jay Okocha through his mother’s side of the family. Okocha, who played for Paris Saint-Germain, Bolton Wanderers, and the Super Eagles across a celebrated career, is widely regarded as the most technically gifted Nigerian footballer of his generation.
- Iwobi came close to not becoming a professional footballer at all. Arsenal nearly released him from their academy at both 14 and 16 years of age. His persistence and work ethic across those critical development years ultimately earned him a long term contract and a first-team debut under Arsene Wenger in 2015.
- The goal Iwobi scored against Zambia at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo in October 2017, which qualified Nigeria for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, was witnessed live in the stadium by both his parents. He has consistently described it as his most emotionally significant moment in a Super Eagles shirt.
- Iwobi represented England at Under-16, Under-17, and Under-18 level before switching allegiance to Nigeria. He was never capped by England at senior level, and under FIFA eligibility rules was free to represent Nigeria since he had not played a competitive senior match for the English national team.
- Ahmed Musa holds Nigeria’s all time appearance record with 111 caps. If Iwobi continues to be selected regularly by Eric Chelle, his trajectory as a 30-year-old with a Fulham contract until 2028 places Musa’s record within realistic range before he retires from international football.
- The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Egypt, was Iwobi’s fourth AFCON tournament. He has a medal from three of his four editions bronze in 2019, silver in 2023, and bronze again in 2025 making him one of the most decorated active Super Eagles players in terms of continental tournament medals.
