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Nigeria are in the semi final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, the 17th AFCON semi final in their history, joint with Egypt, more than any other country in AFCON history, in just 21 tournament appearances.
Nigeria have only failed to make the semis three times (1982, 2008, 2021).
Goals from Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams sent Nigeria through to the semi final after a totally dominant performance over Algeria in Marrakech.
In the AFCON so far, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman have been leading statistically based on the numbers, but behind all of this has been Alex Iwobi, who has been so superb with his performances.
And across the competition so far, no player has been better than Alex Iwobi.
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In every game he has played, Alex keeps finding the free man between the lines, he ensures Nigeria stay in control, and keeps moving the game in Nigeria’s direction, and that has become the pattern of Iwobi’s tournament.
Alex is the one whose decisions keep determining how the game is played. And when you strip it back, the eye test, the number of passes, and the way Nigeria function when he is on the ball, no player at AFCON 2025 has been operating at his level so far.
In the knockout rounds alone, Iwobi has completed 36 line-breaking passes, more than any other player remaining in the tournament. Twenty-two came in the round-of-16 win over Mozambique, 14 more against Algeria in the quarter-final. Those are the passes that break organised blocks, that turn possession into advantage, that force defensive lines to retreat and reset. They are the passes that decide territory and tempo. They are also the passes that explain why Nigeria keep playing most of their football in the opponents half of the pitch.
The description of “the knockout rounds alone “ even makes it look like it’s a lot of games, it’s just two games.
Before Algeria, Nigeria had scored 12 goals in four games, and Algeria had conceded just one, and many feared whether Nigeria could replicate their free scoring against them, considering they looked a stronger opponent than the ones Nigeria had faced.
After the game ended, the 2–0 result did not actually tell the true picture of the game. Nigeria could have easily scored five, with Alex Iwobi at the centre of whatever was happening going forward for Nigeria.
Against Algeria, you could see it almost immediately. Whenever Nigeria were pressed, Iwobi was the release valve. When Algeria dropped, he dropped deep, sometimes stepping a bit higher, and started threading balls into the half-spaces. When Nigeria needed to slow the game, he gave them rhythm. When they needed to speed it up, he took the first risk.
What separates Iwobi’s tournament from almost everyone else’s is the range of his influence. He is not just creating. He is doing all of it, often within the same sequence. He gets the ball when his teammates find it hard to find space, and he does that with ease. The added part is how he instructs them to run into the right channel, and this has worked so well for Nigeria. He also does a lot in chasing down attacking threats into Nigeria’s half.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria are so compact without the ball, aggressive when space opens, and many times ruthless when the moment to score arrives. But none of that structure holds without someone in midfield who understands when to accelerate and when to stabilise. That has been Iwobi’s job. He has become the point where Nigeria’s different phases of play meet.
It’s no accident that Nigeria’s best performances, the four goals against Mozambique and the controlled dismantling of Algeria, are also the games where Iwobi has been most dominant. Against Mozambique, Nigeria did not need to overwhelm them with speed or physicality; they did it with positioning and progression. Iwobi’s 22 line-breaking passes in that match were not a coincidence. They were the method used to tear apart Mozambique.
Even more impressive is that this influence has been consistent. Through the group stage and now into the knockout rounds, Iwobi has remained steady. He has not had a quiet game. He has not disappeared when the pressure has risen. With the chants of the Algerian fans on Saturday evening, you might have expected some nerviness, but no, none of that happened. If anything, his authority has grown with each round.
There are players who will finish with better goal and assist numbers at this tournament. But no one has combined control, progression, intelligence, work-rate and consistency the way Iwobi has.
That is what makes him the tournament’s most complete footballer so far.
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After the game against Mozambique, Nigeria’s coach, Eric Chelle, said, “Alex Iwobi is a player with a large IQ.” It takes a lot of excellent work for your coach to describe you that way
So far, it feels impossible to talk about this AFCON without talking about Alex Iwobi. He is everywhere the game needs him to be. He is the unseen hand guiding the team forward. Watching him play is watching a tournament quietly fall into place around one player, and it is as beautiful as it is decisive.
No matter how you measure it, it comes back to the same truth: Alex Iwobi has been Nigeria’s best, and AFCON 2025’s most complete footballer.
