Noah Okafor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noah Okafor
FC RB Salzburg gegen LASK (14. Februar 2020) 82.jpg
Okafor in 2020
Personal information
Full name Noah Arinze Okafor
Date of birth (2000-05-24) 24 May 2000 (age 21)
Place of birth Basel, Switzerland
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Winger, forward
Club information
Current team
 Red Bull Salzburg
Number 77
Youth career
2008–2009 FC Arisdorf
2009–2017 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Basel 39 (3)
2020– Red Bull Salzburg 42 (14)
National team‡
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 3 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 November 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2021

Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor (born 24 May 2000) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg and the Switzerland national team.

Club career[]

FC Basel[]

Okafor played his first football with local team FC Arisdorf. In 2009 he moved to FC Basel continued through all the teams of their youth academy. On 31 January 2018, Okafor signed his first professional contract with his club.[1] He played his debut for their first team on 19 May 2018 in the home game against FC Luzern. Trainer Raphaël Wicky substituted him in for the injured Mohamed Elyounoussi in the 34th minute and the game ended in a 2–2 draw.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] Okafor played in four cup games and scored a goal in the semi-final against Zürich.

Red Bull Salzburg[]

On 31 January 2020, Okafor signed for Red Bull Salzburg.[5]

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.[6][7]

International career[]

Okafor played various international games for the 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.[8] 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.[9][10]

Personal life[]

Born in Binningen, Switzerland, Okafor is of Nigerian descent.[11] His father is from Nigeria and his mother is Swiss.

Okafor with RB Salzburg in 2021

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of 8 December 2021[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Basel 2017–18 Swiss Super League 1 0 — — 1 0
2018–19 24 3 3 1 1[a] 0 28 4
2019–20 14 0 2 1 7[b] 2 23 3
Total 39 3 5 2 8 2 52 7
Red Bull Salzburg 2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 11 3 3 1 1[a] 0 15 4
2020–21 18 6 4 0 7[c] 0 29 6
2021–22 13 5 2 2 7[d] 3 22 10
Total 42 14 9 3 15 3 66 20
Career total 81 17 14 5 23 5 118 27
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International[]

As of match played 15 November 2021[12]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Switzerland
2019 1 0
2021 2 1
Total 3 1
As of match played 15 November 2021[12]
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
3 15 November 2021 Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland  Bulgaria 1–0 4–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours[]

Basel

Red Bull Salzburg

References[]

  1. ^ "Der FCB verlängert mit Noah Okafor bis 2020". FC Basel 1893. 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Match summary FCB-FCL 19 May 2018". Swiss Football League. 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  3. ^ Herklotz, Guido (2018). "Kein Sieger zwischen Xamax und Basel". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  4. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  5. ^ "FC Red Bull Salzburg - Welcome to Salzburg Noah Okafor". redbulls (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Salzburg-Sevilla". UEFA. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Okafor strike sees Salzburg to historic win over Sevilla". Reuters. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Switzerland v England game report". UEFA. 9 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Noah Okafor sends Switzerland into World Cup heaven". One Football. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "Basel's Nigerian Midfielder Noah Okafor Notches Two Assists vs CSKA :: All Nigeria Soccer - The Complete Nigerian Football Portal". www.allnigeriasoccer.com.
  12. ^ a b c Noah Okafor at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""