 Iwobi playing forArsenal in the2019 UEFA Europa League final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Chuka Iwobi[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1996-05-03)3 May 1996 (age 28) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lagos, Nigeria | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Fulham | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2015 | Arsenal | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2019 | Arsenal | 100 | (11) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Everton | 123 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Fulham | 59 | (12) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | England U16 | 7 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | England U17 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | England U18 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015– | Nigeria | 83 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:34, 16 March 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:31, 21 March 2025 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Alexander Chuka IwobiMON (/ɪˈwoʊbi/ih-WOH-bee;[3] born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forPremier League clubFulham and theNigeria national team.
Iwobi began his career atArsenal, with whom he won theFA Cup in 2017 and finished as runner-up for theEFL Cup in 2018 andUEFA Europa League in 2019. In 2019, Iwobi transferred toEverton, and in 2023 he joined Fulham.
Iwobi represented England up tounder-18 level. He made his senior international debut for Nigeria in October 2015, and was part of their squads at theFIFA World Cup in2018 and theAfrica Cup of Nations in2019,2021 and2023, finishing third at the 2019 tournament, and runner-up at the 2023 tournament.
Iwobi was born inLagos before moving to England at the age of four, following a brief stay in Turkey,[4][5][6] and grew up inNewham, London.[7] His maternal uncle is former professional footballerJay-Jay Okocha.[5][8] His father, Chuka Iwobi, was also a footballer.[9]
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Iwobi joinedArsenal while still at primary school,[10][11] in 2004,[12] and was nearly released by the club at the age of 14 and again at the age of 16.[7]
He was first involved in afirst-team match as an unusedsubstitute in aLeague Cup match againstWest Bromwich Albion on 25 September 2013.[13] He signed a long-term contract with Arsenal in October 2015.[10][14]
On 27 October 2015, Iwobi made his first-team debut for the club, starting in a 3–0 defeat toSheffield Wednesday in the Round of 16 of the League Cup.[15][16] He made his Premier League debut four days later in a 3–0 win againstSwansea City at theLiberty Stadium, as a stoppage time substitute forMesut Özil.[17] Iwobi made hisChampions League debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a 5–1 defeat against Bayern Munich.[18] Iwobi started in the first team for the2015–16 FA Cup 3rd and 4th round home wins againstSunderland andBurnley respectively.[19][20]
After getting a first Champions League start in a 3–1 away defeat to Barcelona,[21] Iwobi went on to score two goals in his first two Premier League starts in wins againstEverton,[22] andWatford, respectively.[23]
In the following season, Iwobi changed his squad number from 45 to 17, afterAlexis Sánchez took number 7 from the departingTomáš Rosický.[24] He went on to feature throughout Arsenal's victoriousFA Cup campaign of 2016–17, winning 2–1 againstChelsea in thefinal.[25] He achieved further success with Arsenal in the2017 Community Shield, in which Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties.[26]
In January 2018, a video was released that allegedly showed Iwobi at a late-night party 36 hours before a match.[27] In May 2018, after Arsenal managerArsène Wenger announced he would be leaving the club, Iwobi described him as an "inspiration" and stated it was sad but exciting.[28]
In August 2018, he signed a new long-term contract with the club, reportedly until 2023.[29]
In January 2019, Iwobi was the subject of allegedracism from Indian actressEsha Gupta, an Arsenal ambassador. Gupta chose to share a screengrab of a WhatsApp conversation in which a friend mocked Iwobi as a "gorilla" and "Neanderthal" who "evolution had stopped for". Gupta later apologised.[30]
In May 2019, Iwobi scored Arsenal's only goal in the2019 UEFA Europa League Final, in a 4–1 defeat to Chelsea.[31]
On 8 August 2019, Iwobi signed a five-year contract withEverton.[32] According to theBBC, Arsenal received a fee of an initial £28 million, rising to £34 million with potential add-ons.[33]
Fifteen days after signing, Iwobi made his debut as a substitute for the final half-hour in place ofGylfi Sigurðsson in a 2–0 loss at Aston Villa.[34] On 28 August in the second round of the EFL Cup, he scored his first Everton goal in a 4–2 win atLincoln City.[35] He scored his first league goal on 1 September in a 3–2 win overWolverhampton Wanderers, and was one of two players singled out for praise by managerMarco Silva afterwards.[36]
Iwobi was named Everton's Players' Player of the Season for2022–23 after providing a club-high eight assists.[37]
Iwobi signed forFulham on 2 September 2023 for an undisclosed fee.[38][39]
On 16 September, Iwobi made his debut for Fulham as a 62nd minute substitute in a 1–0 win overLuton Town.[40] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win atNorwich City in the third round of theEFL Cup on 27 September.[41]
On 27 November, Iwobi scored his first Premier League goal for Fulham in a 3–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers atCraven Cottage.[42] On 6 December, he scored the first league brace of his career in a 5–0 win at home toNottingham Forest.[43]
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 byMikel John Obi.[44]
In January 2025 he spoke positively about the "brotherhood" of Fulham's squad.[45]
Eligible to represent England or his birth country Nigeria, Iwobi started as a youth international for England, with whom he won the 2011Victory Shield.[46][47][48] Iwobi earned 11 caps for England at underage level, but went on to declare forNigeria in 2015. He made his senior debut for the Super Eagles on 8 October, replacingAhmed Musa in the 57th minute of a 2–0 friendly defeat toDR Congo inVisé, Belgium.[49]
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the2016 Summer Olympics.[50] He was not a part of the 18-man final squad.[51]
In August 2017 Iwobi pulled out of Nigeria's squad for that month's World Cup qualifiers due to injury.[52] In October 2017, Iwobi scored for Nigeria in a 1–0 win over Zambia to secure the Super Eagles a spot in the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[53] 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.[54][55]
In April 2019, he said he wanted to emulate his uncle Jay-Jay Okocha by winning the Africa Cup of Nations.[8] He was included in Nigeria's squad for the 2019 tournament.[56][57] At the tournament he said he would ignore the labelling of Nigeria as favourites.[58] After the tournament he said he was looking forward to returning to club football with Arsenal.[59]
Iwobi was named in the Nigeria squad for the delayed2021 Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.[60] 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.[61] At the2023 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.[62]
In December 2024, Iwobi opened a temporary shop in east London which gave out free food for local residents for Christmas.[63]
| 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[64] | Premier League | 13 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 2016–17[65] | Premier League | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[a] | 1 | — | 38 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18[66] | Premier League | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 39 | 3 | |
| 2018–19[67] | Premier League | 35 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11[b] | 2 | — | 51 | 6 | ||
| Total | 100 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 149 | 15 | ||
| Everton | 2019–20[68] | Premier League | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21[69] | Premier League | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 2 | |||
| 2021–22[70] | Premier League | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 3 | |||
| 2022–23[71] | Premier League | 38 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24[72] | 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[72] | Premier League | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2024–25[73] | Premier League | 29 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 7 | |||
| Total | 59 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 13 | ||
| Career total | 282 | 29 | 20 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 356 | 37 | ||
| 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 | 15 | 0 | |
| Total | 83 | 10 | |
| 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 |
Arsenal
England U16
Nigeria
Individual
Orders
Member of theOrder of the Niger[85]
Nigeria squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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