2025 Flying Eagles invitee Ibrahim Hafiz Umar celebrated a milestone moment during Stade Reims’ 3-1 victory over Marseille in a Ligue 1 match held at Stade Auguste-Delaune at the weekend.
Umar has been called up to the Flying Eagles training camp in Katsina ahead of the Africa U20 Cup of Nations but has not yet been released by Stade Reims.
After making his full Ligue 1 debut in Reim’s last game before the international break at Stade Brestois, he came off the bench for the last half an hour in the home fixture against Marseille.
Despite Marseille dominating the early stages of the game, it was Reims that took the lead through Keito Nakamura who weaved past the opposing defense before unleashing a powerful strike that rattled the Marseille net.
Mamadou Diakhon turned from provider to scorer five minutes after the restart when he broke free and expertly slotted past Rulli, extending Reims’ lead.
In the 68th minute, Valentin Atangana finished off a counter-attack to hand Reims a 3-0 lead after he was teed up by Umar, before Valentin Rongier pulled one back with twelve minutes left on the clock.
His assist against Marseille was not only his first for Reims senior team but also the first of his professional career.
Umar has now played in four of the last five matches contested by Reims in the French top-flight, logging 141 minutes.
With no appearances for Reims’ B team since February 15, it is all but confirmed that he has been promoted to the club’s first team.