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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

Iwobi fit for Nigeria's friendlies against Poland and Portugal

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Alex Iwobi has recovered from a hamstring injury and is available for Nigeria's upcoming international friendlies.
  • His return is significant as several other key players are unavailable for the matches against Poland and Portugal.
  • Iwobi aims to earn his 100th cap against Poland and reflects on Fulham's season and Nigeria's AFCON performance.

Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi is fit and ready to play for Nigeria in their upcoming friendlies against Poland and Portugal, providing a boost for coach Eric Chelle. Iwobi had been sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained in April but has recovered, playing in Fulham's final two Premier League matches. He confirmed his readiness for the international window, expressing gratitude for his recovery and looking forward to the break to refresh.

I’m grateful to be back fit after injury. I was able to finish the season feeling good. Of course, I’ve got to get ready for the international break, but I have a little time off to refresh.

— Alex IwobiSpeaking about his recovery and readiness for international duty.

His availability is crucial given a significant number of withdrawals from the squad. Victor Osimhen is out for personal reasons, and Ademola Lookman, Femi Azeez, Samson Tijani, Alhassan Yusuf, and Ebenezer Akinsanmiro are also unavailable, forcing Chelle to adjust his plans considerably.

The 2025/26 season has wrapped up, a season of ups and downs. Of course, we wanted to secure a European spot, but it wasn’t meant to be. Nonetheless, we’ve got to be proud of what we achieved and how far Fulham has come as a club.

— Alex IwobiReflecting on Fulham's domestic season.

Should Iwobi feature against Poland in Warsaw, he will reach a milestone 100 caps for the Super Eagles, joining an elite group of Nigerian footballers. Reflecting on his domestic season, Iwobi described it as one of "ups and downs," acknowledging that securing a European spot was not achieved but expressing pride in Fulham's progress. He also commented on Nigeria's third-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations, stating the team's ambition to achieve more in the future and his personal goal to improve his statistics with more goals and assists.

When you go to a tournament, you want to win it, but to achieve third place in a tough competition is still credit to ourselves. We always strive to achieve more. Hopefully, next season we can do that. I can do that again personally as well, personally try to get more stats, more goals.

— Alex IwobiDiscussing Nigeria's Africa Cup of Nations performance and future ambitions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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