- As Super Eagles recover from scare to beat Tanzania 2-1
The Super Eagles of Nigeria flagged off their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 campaign with a hard-earned 2–1 victory over Taifa Stars of Tanzania in the Group C encounter decided at Fez Stadium, Morocco on Tuesday evening.
The Nigerians, who finished runners-up the last edition of the tournament and are bidding to be crowned African champions since 2013, eased past their Tanzanian counterparts with a dominant performance, especially in the first half.
In a match that saw Alex Iwobi providing two assists on the night as Nigeria seek to atone for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification heartbreak, it was Atalanta of Italy’s forward, Ademola Lookman who struck the winner barely a minute after the Taifa Stars had drawn level.
Controlling much of the first half, the Super Eagles were positively rewarded nine minutes before the interval when Semi Ajayi rose highest to power home a header from an Alex Iwobi delivery.
The corner was won moments earlier after Tanzanian defender Bakari Mwamnyeto managed to clear Victor Osimhen’s close-range effort off the goal line on 35 minutes with Tanzania goalkeeper Zuberi Foba clearly beaten.
That goal reflected Nigeria’s growing authority, with Osimhen, Lookman and Moses Simon stretching the Tanzanian back line through pace and movement.
However, that dominance aside, the Eric Chelle’s men were unable to extend their lead before the break and went into half-time just one goal ahead.
The second half exploded into life almost immediately. Nigeria thought they had doubled their advantage inside the opening minute when Osimhen back-heeled into the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside following a VAR check.
Tanzania seized the momentum moments later. In the 50th minute, a perfectly weighted pass from Novatus Dismas split the defence, allowing Charles M’Mbombwa to burst through and connect a looping cross from Novatus Miroshi past Keeper Stanley Nwabali in a composed finish to bring the scores level.
Any belief Tanzania had of building on that equaliser was short-lived as Lookman produced a moment of brilliance within sixty seconds to restore Nigeria’s lead and silence the Tanzanian celebrations.
The Nigerian forward curled an unstoppable effort from the edge of the area beyond the reach of the goalkeeper with Iwobi again the provider
From there on, the Super Eagles managed the contest with maturity, keeping possession and limiting clear chances. Though the Tanzanians pushed for a late equaliser and came close when Ibrahim Hamad volleyed wide from a corner, the Super Eagles held firm to see out the victory at 2-1.
REACTIONS
Semi Ajayi – TotalEnergies Man of the Match: “It’s an amazing feeling to score for your country and in such a game it gives us the possibility of getting a good start.
“We had an amazing tournament in Cote D’Ivoire and we are using that as a standard. We are a team; we don’t need to get goals only from the attackers and it’s pleasing to contribute to the success of the team. There are a lot of positives to take from the game and some things to fix and we will work on that to kill games going forward.”
Eric Chelle Nigeria Coach: “We are satisfied with the three points. That is the most important. For the moment, I want to focus on the positives. The second part of the game shows clearly that there is still some work to be done — especially when it comes to killing the game. We are aware of this, and we will work on it.
Tanzania Coach Miguel Ángel Gamondi: “I think Tanzania played better than many people expected. Nigeria had a lot of possession, but we neutralised them well through our tactical system. They did create chances, but most of them came from individual quality, which is not surprising. Overall, I believe we surprised a lot of people with the quality of our performance against Nigeria today.” – Additional reports from CAF.com online
