Alex Iwobi: Afcon is a special football tournament

He has played on some of the biggest stages in the world. in the Premier League, but Alex Iwobi believes the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) is a “special” experience.

24 teams will participate in the tournament and will fight for the continental crown over the coming weeks.

Fulham midfielder Iwobi will represent his home country of Nigeria in the competition, where they hope to clinch the title after missing out on the 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast in the 2023 final.

“With Afcon, you can celebrate Africa through football,” he tells BBC Newsbeat.

“You can see different cultures, see how different people dress, how Nigerian people dress, the way we walk into the locker room.

“When some of the other countries come into the locker room, we play music, so we celebrate our music through that as well.”

Nigeria are hoping to redeem themselves after failing to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup.

Iwobi says it was a “big disappointment” but the team will use it to boost themselves in the Afcon tournament.

“We owe it to ourselves to put things right, and there is no better way to improve from the last Afcon than to simply win this one,” says the 29-year-old.

Afcon is usually held every two years and this time Morocco is the host.

Nigeria has won the competition three times over the years, the last time in 2013.

Their most recent defeat to Ivory Coast is still fresh in Iwobi’s mind as he says it “shattered” his dreams.

However, he considers that the moment was “written” for striker Sébastien Haller, who scored the winning goal after overcoming testicular cancer.

“It was a tough loss, but credit where credit is due, they deserved it,” Iwobi says.

“But it has also pushed us and we have been working hard to get back into the Afcon and hopefully this is our story.”

The Fulham midfielder was born in Lagos, but moved to London as a child. His talent was discovered early and he was selected to represent England up to under-18 level.

After many years with the Three Lions, he debuted for the Nigerian national team in 2015 and says he felt more “at home” with the team.

“England treated me with a lot of respect and they loved me,” he says. “But at the same time I felt a greater connection to my roots in Nigeria.”

Since then, he has made 91 appearances, making him the fourth most capped player for the Nigerian Super Eagles.

Iwobi says he never thought he would play for Arsenal, Fulham or Nigeria as a child but feels “honoured and grateful” for his achievements.

Ademola Lookman, Calvin Bassey and Iwobi’s school friend Ola Aina are also among the Nigerian national team players who were not raised in the country.

They have been affectionately nicknamed the “innit boys,” and Iwobi hopes to have helped open the door for others to represent their home country.

“At the end of the day, you are Nigerian and they will love you anyway,” he says.

There has been a debate about whether Afcon gets the respect it deserves.

Earlier this year, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher caused a stir when he suggested Afcon was not considered a “major tournament”, while discussing Mohamed Salah’s chances of winning the coveted Ballon d’Or.

Iwobi feels there is still work to be done.

“It’s obviously being recognized a lot more,” he says. “There are many great talents, great nations representing.

“In the Premier League there are a lot of players in each team that are going to be represented, so awareness is growing, but in my opinion he definitely deserves a lot more respect.”

If he wins the tournament, the Fulham player says he will speak to his parents and sister on the phone immediately, while his family will be dancing.

“I’ve heard from people before that when they win, it’s like everything stops, you become a king, you’re just royalty,” he says.

“Anyway, coming into the final they treated us like royalty, so I can’t imagine winning it.

“It would be crazy, but I want to experience it.”

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