Alex Iwobi has become one of just three midfielders to have reached double figures in goals scored for the Nigeria senior national team.
The 26-year-old reached the milestone on Thursday evening, when he scored the equalizing goal in Nigeria’s 2-1 2023 AFCON qualification Group A win over Sierra Leone.
Jonathan Morsay gave the Leone Stars the lead in the 11th minute, but their advantage lasted only five minutes before Iwobi equalized for Jose Peseiro’s men. The Everton midfielder combined nicely with Moses Simon before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara. Victor Osimhen scored Nigeria’s second in the 41st minute.
Iwobi’s goal brings his total for Nigeria to 10. He joins the late Mudashiru Lawal and his uncle Jay-Jay Okocha as the only other midfielders to have scored 10 or more goals for the three-time African champions.
Between 1975 and 1985, Lawal made 86 appearances for Nigeria, scoring 12 goals. He led Nigeria to their first AFCON triumph on home soil in 1980, and he was the first player to feature in five consecutive editions of the competition.
Okocha, on the other hand, had 14 goals in 75 appearances. The former Paris Saint-Germain and Bolton Wanderers star represented the Super Eagles from 1993 to 2006.
Iwobi played for England as a youth player before opting to play for his birth country, Nigeria, in 2015. He has since earned 58 caps for Nigeria. He will want to add to that number when Nigeria plays Sao Tome and Principe in their second qualifying encounter on Monday.
