Credit: Tung Manh Phan

Daniel Davis

Sun 29 March 2026 10:10, UK

Leeds United may have breathed a sigh of relief after Noah Okafor did not play a single minute for Switzerland in their friendly against Germany.

While his club team-mate Anton Stach made a brief 10-minute cameo for the opposition in the Swiss’ pulsating 4-3 defeat in Basel, Okafor was an unused substitute.

Despite initially missing out on the cut, the 25-year-old forward was drafted into the international squad after Filip Ugrinic was forced to withdraw through injury.

His call-up came even after his own fitness issues saw him miss out on a month of action, though he did make his return in the 0-0 draw with Brentford last time out.

Okafor will be in line to feature again when Leeds travel to Manchester United in mid-April, but first, he will hope to make an appearance for his country against Norway.

How did Switzerland snub Noah Okafor?

The ace hasn’t played for Switzerland since November 2024, when they lost 3-2 against Spain in the Nations League, and has since been on the cusp of the squad – until this week.

It was something of a surprise, then, when Swiss boss Murat Yakin summoned him from the doldrums for two friendlies against Germany and Norway this month.

But Yakin ultimately decided to keep him on the bench on Friday night, making Okafor one of just three outfield players among the 15 Swiss substitutes not to get any minutes.

Daniel Farke would have feared the worst after Okafor’s Switzerland call-up, but now, he will be quietly pleased that he was kept on the bench for the whole 90 minutes.

Okafor was forced off against Birmingham City in the FA Cup with a hamstring injury and missed almost a month as a result, and played 21 minutes on his return against Brentford.

Farke, therefore, would have been nervous about the prospect of Switzerland throwing him back into the fray too soon, instead of carefully easing him in.

Luckily for Leeds, he was unscathed, courtesy of not playing at all.

Okafor needs run of Leeds matches

The talented attacker completed his move from AC Milan to Yorkshire last summer and enjoyed a strong start to life in the Premier League before his untimely absence.

Leeds have sorely missed him. Indeed, they have not scored from open play in the top-flight since February 10, and even that was gifted to them by Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

That goal was ironically scored by Okafor, and without him, they have lacked thrust.

Now he is finally back fit and firing, Farke will be relying heavily on the ace to be the difference between relegation and survival, and he looks ready to embrace the task.