Noah Okafor


Noah Okafor is a Swiss footballer who plays as midfielder for Red Bull Salzburg. He has also represented Switzerland at various youth levels.

Club career

Okafor played his first football by 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. 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. 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 the 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.
On 31 January 2020, Okafor signed for Red Bull Salzburg.

International career

Okafur 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 senior Switzerland national football team debut on 9 June 2019 in the 2019 UEFA Nations League third place game against England, as an 113th-minute substitute for Haris Seferović.

Personal life

Born in Binningen, Switzerland, Okafor is of Nigerian descent. His father is from Nigeria and his mother is Swiss.

Honours

;Basel