His team didn’t even qualify for the World Cup, but the huge spotlight on football means many casual fans are just finding out who German-Nigerian goalie Maduka Okoye is – and they’re obsessed with his good looks.
The 26-year-old and his countrymen are watching the tournament at home after falling short in their bid to qualify for the first time since the 2018 Cup in Russia, where they didn’t make it out of the group stage.
However, the online buzz about Okoye has been so intense, fans could be excused for thinking he’s one of the biggest attractions at the tournament.
The keeper, who currently plays for Udinese in Italy’s Serie A competition, has rocketed to 1.3 million followers on Instagram and almost 870,000 on TikTok thanks in part to the tsunami of clicks he’s been attracting recently.
When journalist Joy Ejaria interviewed him on Instagram on Saturday, she wrote, ‘My DMs are an absolute mess right now, but to everyone (read: the girls) sending me thank you messages, you’re welcome.’
Ejaria asked the goalie, ‘Social media seemed to collectively discover you overnight. What was your reaction to seeing the internet’s response?’
The immense spotlight on football courtesy of the World Cup has seen multitudes of female fans discover handsome Nigerian-German goalie Maduka Okoye (pictured)
His Nigerian Super Eagles team didn’t qualify for this year’s tournament, but the 26-year-old’s online following has exploded regardless
Okoye (pictured playing for Nigeria) has tried to play down the intense focus on his looks
‘Honestly, I think I wasn’t prepared for this because it was quite big,’ Okoye said of the attention he’s been hit with during the World Cup.
‘Once in a while I had some viral moments, but not heavy like this, so I appreciate it and I’m grateful.’
A simple search of his name on Instagram will reveal post after post about Okoye, all of them full of female fans complimenting him on his looks.
‘Sweet Lord in heaven!’ one commenter wrote.
‘He’s just eye candy!’ another said.
‘What I really wanna know is how he likes his eggs done in the morning please,’ another fan wrote.
Many commenters branded Okoye the most handsome footballer on the planet, and one said, ‘I think Nigeria should still be allowed to play in the World Cup, qualified or not.’
Some of Okoye’s new fans almost had a religious experience when they found out about him.
Women have used terms like ‘eye candy’, ‘future husband’ and ‘perfection’ to describe the star, who plays for Udinese in Italy’s Serie A competition
It doesn’t hurt that Okoye stands 198cm tall and is able to speak six languages
Even before the World Cup, Okoye said, ‘Women were always a little bit crazy about me’
‘Okay okay God, you’re a woman … we get it,’ said one.
‘Our Lord and Savior really took the time with this one,’ another wrote.
The adulation from some commenters went up several notches when they discovered that Okoye can speak six languages: English, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish and French.
Born in Düsseldorf, Germany to a Nigerian father and German-French mother, Okoye stands 198cm tall, or six foot six.
He made his professional debut for Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2017 and went on to play for Sparta Rotterdam before moving to English football with Watford.
Okoye has been with Udinese since 2023, racking up 76 appearances, and he first represented Nigeria’s Super Eagles national team in 2019.
Last July he was hit with a two-month suspension for deliberately getting a yellow card during a match, after the incident triggered a betting plunge.
He had been accused of match-fixing but was cleared of that charge by Italy’s Federal National Court.
On his website, the goalie describes himself as an official ambassador for Enugu State in Nigeria, a big fan of anime, and a man with a ‘passion for outdoor moments’.
Last year he told vlogger Ayodele Olu Ibidapo how he deals with the attention from women that comes with his standing in the game – and his viral good looks.
‘I think you have to, as a professional, keep things apart,’ he said.
‘You cannot combine sport with women … it has always been part of me, because they [women] were always a little bit crazy about me.’
