Those who describe FIFA World Cup as a two-horse race between Europe and South America know their onions well. No African nation has ever won the World Cup, but Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi will not allow that to hold him back.
The 22-year-old Arsenal forward will play on football’s biggest stage for the first time after helping the Super Eagles top their qualifying group for Russia 2018.
“We’ve played against some big teams, some big countries, so we are very confident that we can go far.”
Iwobi was twice on the scoresheet as Nigeria defeated Argentina 4-2 in a friendly last year. The two sides will meet again at the World Cup, which runs from June 14 to July 15, in a group, which also contains Iceland and Croatia.
Although the Super Eagles have never progressed past the last 16, Iwobi says winning the upcoming tournament is something he has discussed with his teammates. “It’s always been a dream to play in the biggest competition and there’s no bigger competition than the World Cup to me.”
After representing England at youth level, Iwobi made his international debut with Nigeria in 2016. He has since gone on to be a regular fixture in a young and exciting Nigerian side, which includes the likes of Leicester City trio Kelechi Iheanacho, Ahmed Musa and Wilfred Ndidi.
