![\"Nigeria's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768323307_821_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nRABAT, Morocco \u2014 Nigeria midfielder Alex Iwobi is enjoying his moment at the Africa Cup of Nations after helping his team to the semifinals with key passes for the team\u2019s star forwards.<\/p>\n
Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Akor Adams have all thrived on Iwobi\u2019s input.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old attacking midfielder has produced more line-breaking passes than any other player in the knockout stage and has emerged as the driving force behind the Super Eagles\u2019 success so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t pinpoint what it is, I just give the same application, but it\u2019s nice, I guess, that I\u2019m getting recognition for how I\u2019m doing,\u201d Iwobi said Tuesday, a day before Nigeria\u2019s semifinal against host Morocco.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just focus on the team trying to win. Of course, my whole career, I\u2019ve been told to play in different roles, different positions, but one thing about me is I\u2019ll always do my best no matter what.”<\/p>\n
Iwobi, the nephew of Nigeria great Jay-Jay Okocha, was always destined to follow in his famous uncle\u2019s footsteps for the national team. Born in Lagos, he moved to London at a young age and played for England youth teams before switching to Nigeria in 2015.<\/p>\n
Expectations are always high and disappointments have followed. Iwobi faced harsh criticism after Nigeria lost the 2023 Africa Cup final to host Ivory Coast and the Super Eagles also failed to qualify for the World Cup after losing to Congo on penalties in a playoff.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi is challenged by Tanzania’s Novatus Miroshi during the Africa Cup of Nations group C soccer match between Nigeria and Tanzania in Fez, Morocco, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. Credit: AP\/Themba Hadebe<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s performances in Morocco have helped restore some pride, especially the manner of the team\u2019s play. No other side has scored as many goals, 14, as Nigeria has so far.<\/p>\n
Algeria had the best defensive record in the tournament but it didn\u2019t help in the quarterfinals on Saturday as Nigeria eased to a 2-0 win and should have scored more with Adams missing two good chances on top of the goal he scored.<\/p>\n
Iwobi credits the good atmosphere in the team\u2019s camp for its success, concerns about bonuses and an on-field bust-up between Lookman and Osimhen notwithstanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the difference is the sense of brotherhood, the family environment that we\u2019ve created for each other,\u201d Iwobi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe previous AFCONs, we\u2019ve done really well, the team have been so strong, but at the same time, the team was young and we were learning about each other,\u201d he added. \u201cRight now, everybody\u2019s entering their prime, everyone\u2019s doing well respectfully for their clubs, and you can see the joy and the chemistry that we have when we\u2019re playing for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iwobi credited coach \u00c9ric Chelle for helping to forge that family feeling in the squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like that\u2019s bringing out the best, not just in me, but in all the players,\u201d Iwobi said.<\/p>\n
Nigeria will be without team captain Wilfred Ndiki, suspended because of an accumulation of yellow cards, against Morocco. Chelle said he wasn\u2019t worried as he has the players to replace Ndiki.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just have to make a choice between some players. Everything will be fine,\u201d Chelle said.<\/p>\n
Iwobi is sure to start. Chelle praised his intelligence on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome players just want to play football. They want to take some pleasure on the pitch (field). They want play with other footballers, who smell the football, who feel the football, and Alex is a player like that,\u201d Chelle said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RABAT, Morocco \u2014 Nigeria midfielder Alex Iwobi is enjoying his moment at the Africa Cup of Nations after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[122,323,1308],"class_list":{"0":"post-21134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigeria","8":"tag-nigeria","9":"tag-soccer","10":"tag-wires-bot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}