Noah Okafor

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.

Noah Okafor
Okafor in 2020
Personal information
Full name Noah Arinze Okafor
Date of birth (2000-05-24) 24 May 2000
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 49 (17)
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 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 April 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 March 2022

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 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.[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 Igbo Nigerian descent.[11] His father is from Nigeria and his mother is Swiss.

Okafor with RB Salzburg in 2021

Career statistics

Club
As of 17 April 2022[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 10——10
2018–19 243311[lower-alpha 1]0284
2019–20 140217[lower-alpha 2]2233
Total 3935282527
Red Bull Salzburg 2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 113311[lower-alpha 1]0154
2020–21 186407[lower-alpha 3]0296
2021–22 208428[lower-alpha 4]33213
Total 49171131637623
Career total 882016524512830
  1. 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 29 March 2022[12]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Switzerland 201910
202121
202210
Total41
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
315 November 2021Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland Bulgaria1–04–02022 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. Noah Okafor at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
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