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Noah Okafor

Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor (born 24 May 2000) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for Serie A club AC Milan and the Switzerland national team. He has also represented Switzerland internationally at youth level.

Noah Okafor
Okafor with Red Bull Salzburg in 2022
Personal information
Full name Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor[1]
Date of birth (2000-05-24) 24 May 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Binningen, Switzerland[2]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 AC Milan
Number 17
Youth career
2008–2009 FC Arisdorf
2009–2018 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Basel 39 (3)
2020–2023 Red Bull Salzburg 71 (25)
2023– AC Milan 39 (7)
International career‡
2014–2015 Switzerland U15 3 (0)
2016–2017 Switzerland U17 7 (3)
2017–2018 Switzerland U18 1 (0)
2018–2019 Switzerland U19 7 (1)
2019– Switzerland 24 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:25, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:38, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

Club career

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FC Basel

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Okafor played his first youth football with local team FC Arisdorf. In 2009 he moved to the youth of FC Basel and continued through all the stages of their youth academy. He advanced to their first team during their 2018–19 season and on 31 January 2018, Okafor signed his first professional contract with his club under head coach Raphaël Wicky.[3] He played his debut for their first team on 19 May 2018 in the home game against FC Luzern. The trainer substituted him in for the injured Mohamed Elyounoussi in the 34th minute and the game ended in a 2–2 draw.[4] He scored his first goal for his club in the second round of the 2018–19 season on 28 July 2018 in the 1–1 away draw against Xamax.[5]

Under trainer Marcel Koller Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat FC Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16 Winterthur 1–0. In the quarter-finals Sion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi-finals Zürich were defeated 3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Striker Albian Ajeti scored the first goal, Fabian Frei the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[6] Okafor played in four cup games and scored a goal in the semi-final against Zürich.

Between the years 2017 and 2020 Okafor played a total of 72 games for Basel scoring a total of nine goals. 39 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, seven in the Swiss Cup, eight in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 18 were friendly games. He scored three goals in the domestic league, two in the cup, two in the European competitions and the other two were scored during the test games.[7]

Red Bull Salzburg

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On 31 January 2020, Okafor signed for Red Bull Salzburg.[8]

On 8 December 2021, Okafor scored the only goal of the game as Salzburg defeated Sevilla in the final group stage match of the Champions League. The win meant Salzburg secured progression to the Round of 16 and became the first-ever Austrian club to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.[9][10]

 
Meistertellerübergabe Saison 2021-22 (2022-05-21) 30

On 7 September 2022, during a Champions League group stage match against AC Milan, Okafor scored a remarkable goal, leading the match to a 1–1 draw.[11] After outmaneuvering Milan's defender Pierre Kalulu and goalkeeper Mike Maignan with a 'gurkerl' trick shot, his goal landed in the bottom right corner of the net, sparking widespread celebrations in the stadium.[12][13]

AC Milan

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2023–24: First season in Italy

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On 22 July 2023, Okafor signed for Italian Serie A side AC Milan until 30 June 2028.[14] Okafor made his Serie A debut for AC Milan on 21 August 2023 against Bologna.[15] On 27 September 2023, Okafor scored his first goal for the Rossoneri in a 3–1 away victory against Cagliari.[16][17] 3 days later, he scored the second goal against Lazio in 2-0 win.[18] His third goal of the season came on 17 December against Monza, when he scored his team's third goal in a comfortable 3-0 win.[19] On 20 January 2024, he came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner against Udinese, it was the first win for AC Milan in the former's stadium since 2020.[20][21]

International career

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Okafor played various international games for the Swiss U-15 and U-17 teams. He played his first game for the U-18 team on 9 May 2018 in the 1–1 draw against the Italian U-18 team.

He made his debut for the senior national team debut on 9 June 2019 in the 2019 UEFA Nations League third place game against England, as an 113th-minute substitute for Haris Seferovic.[22] Okafor scored his first international goal for Switzerland on 15 November 2021, in their World Cup qualifying game against Bulgaria, a win which secured automatic qualification for Switzerland to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[23][24]

Personal life

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Born in Binningen, Switzerland, Okafor is of Igbo descent.[25] His father is from Nigeria and his mother is Swiss. His younger brothers Elijah and Isaiah are also footballers, playing respectively for FC Lugano II and the Under 21 of FC Zürich.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 15 December 2024[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Basel U21 2017–18 Swiss Promotion League 13 1 — — 13 1
2018–19 2 1 — — 2 1
Total 15 2 — — 15 2
Basel 2017–18 Swiss Super League 1 0 — — 1 0
2018–19 24 3 3 1 1[b] 0 28 4
2019–20 14 0 2 1 7[c] 2 23 3
Total 39 3 5 2 8 2 52 7
Red Bull Salzburg 2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 11 3 3 1 1[b] 0 15 4
2020–21 18 6 4 0 7[d] 0 29 6
2021–22 21 9 5 2 8[e] 3 34 14
2022–23 21 7 3 0 8[f] 3 32 10
Total 71 25 15 3 24 6 110 34
AC Milan 2023–24 Serie A 28 6 0 0 8[g] 0 36 6
2024–25 11 1 1 0 4[e] 0 16 1
Total 39 7 1 0 12 0 52 7
Career total 164 37 21 5 44 8 229 50
  1. ^ Includes Swiss Cup, Austrian Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ Six appearances and three goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

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As of match played 18 November 2024[26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Switzerland 2019 1 0
2021 2 1
2022 9 1
2023 7 0
2024 5 0
Total 24 2
As of match played 2 June 2022[26]
Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Okafor goal.
List of international goals scored by Noah Okafor
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 15 November 2021 Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland   Bulgaria 1–0 4–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 2 June 2022 Sinobo Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic   Czech Republic 1–1 1–2 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A

Honours

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Basel

Red Bull Salzburg

 
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Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Switzerland (SUI)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 28. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Noah Okafor". Red Bull Salzburg. Red Bull Salzburg. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Der FCB verlängert mit Noah Okafor bis 2020". FC Basel 1893 (in German). 31 January 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  4. ^ "FC Basel - FC Luzern 2:2 (1:1)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". 19 May 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Kein Sieger zwischen Xamax und Basel". FC Basel 1893 (in German). 28 July 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  6. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  7. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" (2020). "Noah Okafor - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  8. ^ "FC Red Bull Salzburg - Welcome to Salzburg Noah Okafor". redbulls (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Salzburg-Sevilla". UEFA. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Okafor strike sees Salzburg to historic win over Sevilla". Reuters. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  11. ^ UEFA.com. "Salzburg-Milan: UEFA Champions League 2022/23 Group stage". UEFA.com. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Milan held to 1-1 draw at Salzburg in Champions League opener". Reuters. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  13. ^ "AC Milan come from behind to earn draw in Salzburg as Italians get off to slow start in Champions League". Eurosport. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  14. ^ "OFFICIAL STATEMENT: NOAH OKAFOR". AC Milan. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Bologna 0-2 AC Milan (Aug 21, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Cagliari 1-3 AC Milan, Serie A TIM 2023/2024: the match report". AC Milan. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Cagliari 1-3 AC Milan - Serie A result as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori and Noah Okafor earn the Rossoneri a comeback win in Sardinia". Eurosport. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Pulisic scores as AC Milan beat Lazio to keep pace with Inter". Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  19. ^ "AC MILAN 3-0 MONZA: HOSTS CLAIM EASY WIN TO KEEP INTERNAZIONALE AND JUVENTUS IN SIGHTS IN SERIE A". EuroSport. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Udinese 2-3 AC MILAN: ALLEGED RACIST ABUSE OF MIKE MAIGNAN MARS DRAMATIC COMEBACK WIN FOR ROSSONERI". EuroSport.
  21. ^ Fisher, Oliver. "A milestone up for the grabs: all key stats ahead of Udinese vs. Milan". Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Switzerland v England game report". UEFA. 9 June 2019.
  23. ^ "Noah Okafor sends Switzerland into World Cup heaven". One Football. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Switzerland beat Bulgaria to snatch group c top spot from Italy to qualify automatically for World Cup". Eurosport. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Basel's Nigerian Midfielder Noah Okafor Notches Two Assists vs CSKA :: All Nigeria Soccer - The Complete Nigerian Football Portal". www.allnigeriasoccer.com.
  26. ^ a b c Noah Okafor at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  27. ^ "Super League: Jean-Pierre Nsame élu meilleur joueur 2019". RTSSport.ch (in French). 20 January 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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