Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca, Morocco, defeated the Pharaohs of Egypt in the third-place match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to win the bronze medal in the competition.
The two teams at full and extra time were unable to find the back of the net thereby forced the match to be decided via penalties.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria did score two goals during the match, but were disallowed for offside positions.
During the ensuing penalties shootouts, the Super Eagles successfully scored 4 as against 2 scored by the Pharaohs of Egypt to emerge victorious.
Unlike the semi-finals match against host country Morocco, the Super Eagles goalie, Stanley Nwabali saved the kicks of superstars Mohammed Salah and Oma Marmoush.
Nigeria’s Bashiru, who took the first penalty had his effort neatly stopped by the Egyptian goalie, but the gloom in the camp of the Nigerian side was eventually lifted when Mohammed Salah lost the first kick for Egypt as Nigerian Nwabali effectively checked it and ensured that it was kept from getting near the net.
Not done with stopping Salah’s kick, the Nigerian goalkeeper also moved decisively and saved the next kick by the Egyptians.
Following the victory, Nigeria won the third place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
During the playtime of the match, the Super Eagles came closest to breaking the deadlock when Paul Onuachu found the net, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside after a review.
The tension-soaked match saw both teams created half-chances in the match that was dominated by tactical discipline and solid defensive organisation, as neither defence allowed sustained pressure to translate into any goal.
Egyptian superstar, Mohamed Salah was not given any chance to display even as he remained lively throughout the match just as Nigerian regulars played decisive key roles, except that finishing proved difficult.
The match afforded the two-football loving African nations a chance to salvage pride after semi-final heartbreaks that saw Egypt edged out by Senegal while Nigeria crashed out after a penalty shoot-out defeat to hosts Morocco.
