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Biography
Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor (born 24 May 2000) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for Serie A club AC Milan and the Switzerland national team. He has also represented Switzerland internationally at youth level.
Club career
FC Basel
Okafor played his first youth football with local team FC Arisdorf. In 2009 he moved to the youth of FC Basel and continued through all the stages of their youth academy. He advanced to their first team during their 2018–19 season and on 31 January 2018, Okafor signed his first professional contract with his club under head coach Raphaël Wicky. He played his debut for their first team on 19 May 2018 in the home game against FC Luzern. The trainer substituted him in for the injured Mohamed Elyounoussi in the 34th minute and the game ended in a 2–2 draw. 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.
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. Okafor played in four cup games and scored a goal in the semi-final against Zürich.
Between the years 2017 and 2020 Okafor played a total of 72 games for Basel scoring a total of nine goals. 39 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, seven in the Swiss Cup, eight in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 18 were friendly games. He scored three goals in the domestic league, two in the cup, two in the European competitions and the other two were scored during the test games.
Red Bull Salzburg
On 31 January 2020, Okafor signed for Red Bull Salzburg.
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.
On 7 September 2022, during a Champions League group stage match against AC Milan, Okafor scored a remarkable goal, leading the match to a 1–1 draw. After outmaneuvering Milan's defender Pierre Kalulu and goalkeeper Mike Maignan with a 'gurkerl' trick shot, his goal landed in the bottom right corner of the net, sparking widespread celebrations in the stadium.
AC Milan
2023–24: First season in Italy
On 22 July 2023, Okafor signed for Italian Serie A side AC Milan until 30 June 2028. Okafor made his Serie A debut for AC Milan on 21 August 2023 against Bologna. On 27 September 2023, Okafor scored his first goal for the Rossoneri in a 3–1 away victory against Cagliari. 3 days later, he scored the second goal against Lazio in 2-0 win. His third goal of the season came on 17 December against Monza, when he scored his team's third goal in a comfortable 3-0 win. On 20 January 2024, he came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner against Udinese, it was the first win for AC Milan in the former's stadium since 2020.
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. 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.
Personal life
Born in Binningen, Switzerland, Okafor is of Ika descent. His father is from Nigeria and his mother is Swiss. His younger brothers Elijah and Isaiah are also footballers, playing respectively for FC Lugano II and the Under 19 of Bayer Leverkusen.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 24 August 2024
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basel U21 | 2017–18 | Swiss Promotion League | 13 | 1 | — | — | 13 | 1 | ||
| 2018–19 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 15 | 2 | — | — | 15 | 2 | ||||
| Basel | 2017–18 | Swiss Super League | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 23 | 3 | ||
| Total | 39 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 52 | 7 | ||
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2019–20 | Austrian Bundesliga | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| 2020–21 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 6 | ||
| 2021–22 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 34 | 14 | ||
| 2022–23 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 32 | 10 | ||
| Total | 71 | 25 | 15 | 3 | 24 | 6 | 110 | 34 | ||
| AC Milan | 2023–24 | Serie A | 28 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 36 | 6 |
| 2024–25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Total | 30 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 38 | 7 | ||
| Career total | 155 | 37 | 20 | 5 | 40 | 8 | 215 | 50 | ||
International
- As of match played 8 June 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 2 | |
- As of match played 2 June 2022
- Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Okafor goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 November 2021 | Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland |  Bulgaria | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 2 June 2022 | Sinobo Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic |  Czech Republic | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
Honours
Basel
- Swiss Cup: 2018–19
Red Bull Salzburg
- Austrian Bundesliga: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
- Austrian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Individual
- Swiss Super League Young Player of the Year: 2019–20
