African Football Discussion Thread Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2025/2026

[Cityhunter34]

120 minutes are up and Nigeria vs the host of Afcon are going into penalties, the Nigerian coach brought in Samuel Chukwueze less than a minute to the final whistle and I don’t think he touched the ball, that is an indication that Chukwueze will be taking a penalty.
It is time Nwabali makes himself the hero again at the Afcon and help Nigeria go through to the final.
But one thing I will not want to see is the use of lasers by the Moroccan fans.

It would have been better they keep Chukwueze in the bench than bringing him for penalty kick, because it's obvious now that Chukwueze is the cause of this losses because he played the worst penalty so far. Of course Nwabali still remains the hero, he made an incredible efforts in this penalty but the Super Eagles failed to help him out, honestly, I'm totally disappointed with Super Eagles we all know that penalty is a game of luck but there was no force in them at all.

[Dzwaafu11]

Now it’s penalty shootout and my heart is pacing, with Bounou in goal for the Moroccans.

Morocco was definitely the better team and they had far better penalty takers. They had a more composed spot kick while, the Nigerian players came with an aura that they themselves could not contain. Chukwueze happened to have being brought on for the penalties and he trashed the opportunities he was given before it could get cold.

What a way to go but, someone has got to loose and Nigeria just happened to have done their most for the tournament.

It really paining me right now. Although the match was really good, it’s just the penalty knock out that kick my country out of the AFCON, the super eagles players really tried tonight, they did everything to see that they score so the match will not reach that stage of penalty kick, but still went to that stage. Seriously, Nigerian players really tried but is just how the football works the luck wasn’t by our side in this match. Congratulations to Morocco 🇲🇦 .

[Sandra_hakeem]

Now it’s penalty shootout and my heart is pacing, with Bounou in goal for the Moroccans.

Morocco was definitely the better team and they had far better penalty takers. They had a more composed spot kick while, the Nigerian players came with an aura that they themselves could not contain. Chukwueze happened to have being brought on for the penalties and he trashed the opportunities he was given before it could get cold.

With everything you said, which matches my own imagination of what the match would look like, i was only hoping that one thing would happen; maybe, a miracle could've changed the outcome and Osimhen would score a lucky header as usual? Or maybe something strange but different. None of my wildest imaginations came to reality; infact, Victor Osimhen, the hope of the frontiers, the light-bearer, had 0 goal, 0 assist, 0 shot. They have failed us as a nation, that they didn't even 'try" at least with their best abilities... Let it be that you tried your best and it didn't yield anything, not that you were lazy on the pitch, but expected a different result!

[Harkorede]

Now it’s penalty shootout and my heart is pacing, with Bounou in goal for the Moroccans.

Morocco was definitely the better team and they had far better penalty takers. They had a more composed spot kick while, the Nigerian players came with an aura that they themselves could not contain. Chukwueze happened to have being brought on for the penalties and he trashed the opportunities he was given before it could get cold.

What a way to go but, someone has got to loose and Nigeria just happened to have done their most for the tournament.

I really like this Nigerian team and I hope the NFF would ensure to keep them together for a long while, because they seemed to have better chemistry together.

About losing out on penalties, I’d say it again penalties is no man’s game and anyone could win it, if there is something I passionately dislike from coaches regarding penalty takers selections is that, you don’t live a player on the bench for an entire 120 minutes of football then bring them on only for the sake of penalty shootout, every player needs to have kicked the ball a couple of times on the pitch and have some kind of real-time on field warmup or minutes, before you hand such responsibility to them, even psychologically imo bringing a player on after not touching the football all game long for the sake of penalties definitely mount extra form of pressure on the player professional or not.

[Cossyblack]

Congratulations to Morocco as they advanced on a 4:2 on penalties. They were the better team of tonight and a deserved victory for them. The best team won tonight. But what kind of penalty is that from Chukwueze, he struck the ball as if he didn't care. It's was just too casual for a man that wants to win. It was a weak hit from the Nigerian player.

Nigeria were the better team compared to Morocco. We beat them in ball possession and passes. They were better penalty shooters than the super eagles.If not for that penalty Chukwueze missed, our super eagles could have defeated Morocco. Congratulations to our super eagles even though we lost to Morocco,we gave them a tough challenge that they won't forget in a hurry.

[MArsland]

Now it’s penalty shootout and my heart is pacing, with Bounou in goal for the Moroccans.

Morocco was definitely the better team and they had far better penalty takers. They had a more composed spot kick while, the Nigerian players came with an aura that they themselves could not contain. Chukwueze happened to have being brought on for the penalties and he trashed the opportunities he was given before it could get cold.

What a way to go but, someone has got to loose and Nigeria just happened to have done their most for the tournament.

I was surprised the coach withdrew a key player at a crucial moment leading up to the penalty shootout, and it affected the quality of the penalty shootout. Osimhen should have played until the end, but it was all over, and Morocco advanced to the final. Bono defensive mentality in the face of penalty kicks is a key factor in Morocco chances of winning this penalty shootout.

[KingsDen]

120 minutes are up and Nigeria vs the host of Afcon are going into penalties, the Nigerian coach brought in Samuel Chukwueze less than a minute to the final whistle and I don’t think he touched the ball, that is an indication that Chukwueze will be taking a penalty.
It is time Nwabali makes himself the hero again at the Afcon and help Nigeria go through to the final.
But one thing I will not want to see is the use of lasers by the Moroccan fans.

It would have been better they keep Chukwueze in the bench than bringing him for penalty kick, because it's obvious now that Chukwueze is the cause of this losses because he played the worst penalty so far. Of course Nwabali still remains the hero, he made an incredible efforts in this penalty but the Super Eagles failed to help him out, honestly, I'm totally disappointed with Super Eagles we all know that penalty is a game of luck but there was no force in them at all.

I am not a fan of "He is a good penalty taker, bring him in the last minute to take penalty". Chukwueze was actually and totally not in the football mood at all. He stood so unconcerned and kicked so lackadaisically. The moment he stepped on the pitch,
I saw low spirit all over him.
I saw, I don't care anyways.
I saw why did they bench me throughout the match;
It is so pathetic but I know the boys tried, the Morrocans were the better side.

[Agbam]

Now it’s penalty shootout and my heart is pacing, with Bounou in goal for the Moroccans.

I said it that when you put your hope on Nigerians to win an important match, they end up messing it up. Morocco was the better side in the penalty shootout, I knew it that Nigeria wouldn't be able to make it to the finals when it comes to penalties. Morocco will play Senegal in the finals. It's gon be an interesting game.

Something I’ve noticed Victor Osimhen never finishes or plays in a match we lose, maybe next time Coach should be leaving him on even if he’s tired.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria just ARSENALED Us fans. They made us fall in love with them thinking that this will be our year and when all of Nigeria was beginning to love their style they failed us.

Just like Avatar when we needed that vibrant and energetic play it disappeared….. Someone said “they were playing like Morroco bribed them” cos what we saw wasn’t what we’ve been seeing.
With this MOROCCO Wins the AFCON.

[MorganaX]

120 minutes are up and Nigeria vs the host of Afcon are going into penalties, the Nigerian coach brought in Samuel Chukwueze less than a minute to the final whistle and I don’t think he touched the ball, that is an indication that Chukwueze will be taking a penalty.
It is time Nwabali makes himself the hero again at the Afcon and help Nigeria go through to the final.
But one thing I will not want to see is the use of lasers by the Moroccan fans.

It would have been better they keep Chukwueze in the bench than bringing him for penalty kick, because it's obvious now that Chukwueze is the cause of this losses because he played the worst penalty so far. Of course Nwabali still remains the hero, he made an incredible efforts in this penalty but the Super Eagles failed to help him out, honestly, I'm totally disappointed with Super Eagles we all know that penalty is a game of luck but there was no force in them at all.

I am not a fan of "He is a good penalty taker, bring him in the last minute to take penalty". Chukwueze was actually and totally not in the football mood at all. He stood so unconcerned and kicked so lackadaisically. The moment he stepped on the pitch,
I saw low spirit all over him.
I saw, I don't care anyways.
I saw why did they bench me throughout the match;
It is so pathetic but I know the boys tried, the Morrocans were the better side.

A game of luck, that is what the penalty game is, for me I was very disappointed with chukwueze as this would have been better, if he didn't enter this game for the penalty kick, although during penalties, you will not blame anyone, but still it is a game of chance that has been given to you, and when you can not manage that properly, it will be as if, the lost came from your mistakes. The boys did there best and we can not blame them for anything.

[SatoPrincess]

I don’t get people are saying Morocco was the better side. This was not the result I wanted but in my opinion, the game was 50-50 till full-time, both sides played like it was the finals. It’s unfortunate that Nigeria are not good in penalties. My God, I wish I could phone Chukwueze and give him a piece of my mind.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

I did not have any problem when I learnt that the referee for the match Nigeria and Morocco is from Ghana, and Ghana and Nigeria has this sibling rivalries, but after the first half and the way the officiating has gone i have a big problem with it.
The yellow card shown to Calvin bassey was a blunder from the referee, bassey was already comfortably in front of Daiz and had his shirt tugged back but the referee gave the free kick to Morocco and a red card to bassey that will make him miss the final if Nigeria is to qualify.

When I saw it, I had issues with that, and did they prove me right and not only that the lead VAR in the match is a South African, another country Nigerians has a little bit of problem with. Truly that card from the referee was not just, I feel he just wanted to show his dominance in the match because the tension was going out of hand but a yellow card for Bassey is not just right, he is now going to miss the finals if they win the match.

But unfortunately we lost the game to Morocco during the penalty kick, and as such, we are to play against Egypt this coming Saturday, while Morocco plays the final against Senegal on Sunday. And to be honestly speaking, selecting Samuel Chukwueze and "Bruno Onyemaechi" was equally the worst mistake coach Eric Chelle did, when we have people like Victor Osinhem, Ademola Lock and Akor Adams that would have been the best players to take the penalty kicks, but yet he never selected them. Because immediately I noticed that  Hamza Igamane missed his penalty kick, I was already happy that the next player from Nigeria win the second goal, but only to see samuel Chukwueze confidently walk up and missed the second penalty kicks, which is what gave the Moroccan player the energy the more to score goal the remaining 3 goals.  But however it was indeed a very tough an impressive game tonight.

[KingsDen]

120 minutes are up and Nigeria vs the host of Afcon are going into penalties, the Nigerian coach brought in Samuel Chukwueze less than a minute to the final whistle and I don’t think he touched the ball, that is an indication that Chukwueze will be taking a penalty.
It is time Nwabali makes himself the hero again at the Afcon and help Nigeria go through to the final.
But one thing I will not want to see is the use of lasers by the Moroccan fans.

It would have been better they keep Chukwueze in the bench than bringing him for penalty kick, because it's obvious now that Chukwueze is the cause of this losses because he played the worst penalty so far. Of course Nwabali still remains the hero, he made an incredible efforts in this penalty but the Super Eagles failed to help him out, honestly, I'm totally disappointed with Super Eagles we all know that penalty is a game of luck but there was no force in them at all.

I am not a fan of "He is a good penalty taker, bring him in the last minute to take penalty". Chukwueze was actually and totally not in the football mood at all. He stood so unconcerned and kicked so lackadaisically. The moment he stepped on the pitch,
I saw low spirit all over him.
I saw, I don't care anyways.
I saw why did they bench me throughout the match;
It is so pathetic but I know the boys tried, the Morrocans were the better side.

A game of luck, that is what the penalty game is, for me I was very disappointed with chukwueze as this would have been better, if he didn't enter this game for the penalty kick, although during penalties, you will not blame anyone, but still it is a game of chance that has been given to you, and when you can not manage that properly, it will be as if, the lost came from your mistakes. The boys did there best and we can not blame them for anything.

I know penalty kick is a game of luck but there is some kind of principles you have to apply before you depend on the luck. Even the commentator said it. He said you have to be bold, take a decision and kick the ball had. But nothing exciting happened to Chukwueze, it seems he was forced to come on and everything became a mess.
My mind is telling me that his teammates will also be disappointed with him. But it's all fine, it's football, anything can happen. Let's wait for another edition and the worse is that we are not going to the world cup.

[ejikeme24]

It would have been better they keep Chukwueze in the bench than bringing him for penalty kick, because it's obvious now that Chukwueze is the cause of this losses because he played the worst penalty so far. Of course Nwabali still remains the hero, he made an incredible efforts in this penalty but the Super Eagles failed to help him out, honestly, I'm totally disappointed with Super Eagles we all know that penalty is a game of luck but there was no force in them at all.

Well, there will be no need for that because the mistake has already been made there's no way we can undo it. The super eagles almost ruin my day today because I was expecting them to do more these but it was quite unfortunate that it was even more worst than I thought. I knew from the onset that they won't make it if they end up in penalty kick, Because they are not good at penalty and this made me not to watch the penalty kick Because I just feel that I can't bear the pains if they eventually loss in the penalty kick. The super eagles don't seem to amaze me honestly their performance tonight was very poor they didn't even have any Short on target.

[Oluwa-btc]

I don’t get people are saying Morocco was the better side. This was not the result I wanted but in my opinion, the game was 50-50 till full-time, both sides played like it was the finals. It’s unfortunate that Nigeria are not good in penalties. My God, I wish I could phone Chukwueze and give him a piece of my mind.

The same way you question people saying Morocco was better is the same way you should for yourself now. How do you expect a player who haven't ran 10 to 15 minutes during this game to warm up his body, how do you set up such a player already for the penalty duties?! Blames I believe should be on whoever selected these players to shoot the penalty. Congratulations to them host. They were under a lot of pressure but they played with caution when attacking a d defending.

[Smartvirus]

Nigeria were the better team compared to Morocco. We beat them in ball possession and passes. They were better penalty shooters than the super eagles.If not for that penalty Chukwueze missed, our super eagles could have defeated Morocco. Congratulations to our super eagles even though we lost to Morocco,we gave them a tough challenge that they won't forget in a hurry.

These got me running right back to look up the stats on this game because, I was wondering if the stats would lie and yeah, it does show that we had more of the possessions but, that doesn’t mean we controlled the game, hell no and Nigeria wasn’t the better side in this fixture. The odds on the game would tell you that much. If you take a look at all the other stats that matters like, shots on target and off target, blocked shots, cards, corner kicks, goalkeeper saves and the rest of them, the Moroccan team got all that, they played more better today.

I don’t get people are saying Morocco was the better side. This was not the result I wanted but in my opinion, the game was 50-50 till full-time, both sides played like it was the finals. It’s unfortunate that Nigeria are not good in penalties. My God, I wish I could phone Chukwueze and give him a piece of my mind.

It’s a 50:50 game as the results and mode of deciders does show but, I wouldn’t be a blinded patriot here not to say that Morocco played better. In fact, I made a bet on Nigeria to win and when that was off the hook with the final whistle after hoping that by some Miracle Osimhen would find a way, I tried another bet on Nigeria to qualify and we lost it eventually. I know how these things could feel for the players or I can imagine it but, someone needs to educate Chukwueze to rest the bubble gum in his mouth, understand what’s at stake to focus and add much power to his shot.

They did good though, they made the nations proud how they carried the badge and we are happy with their performance in the tournament.

[MorganaX]

I don’t get people are saying Morocco was the better side. This was not the result I wanted but in my opinion, the game was 50-50 till full-time, both sides played like it was the finals. It’s unfortunate that Nigeria are not good in penalties. My God, I wish I could phone Chukwueze and give him a piece of my mind.

The same way you question people saying Morocco was better is the same way you should for yourself now. How do you expect a player who haven't ran 10 to 15 minutes during this game to warm up his body, how do you set up such a player already for the penalty duties?! Blames I believe should be on whoever selected these players to shoot the penalty. Congratulations to them host. They were under a lot of pressure but they played with caution when attacking a d defending.

Good one to the Moroccan, they got the win and I will definitely say it was not an easy one for both side as we see how they struggle for the game. Indeed we can not blame anyone for this, but the Nigerians taking the penalty was never a good one for them, as I already felt it that they are basically going to lose this game, it has never been favorable for the Nigerians during penalty shot out.

[Tonimez]

For me this game between Nigeria and Morocco is the real final and the most competitive game of the tournament: the real battle of the giants. Morocco was exceptional, their fierce play was almost destabilising the super eagles but thanks goodness they stood strong till the end. Coach Eric Chelle is a very good coach I must say. His tactics really went down well. Morocco is a very strong team and a world class team. So what the super eagles have displayed should be one of the best semi defensive team play recorded so far.

Chukwueze killed the vibe and that was when we lost it. Nwabali was so good tonight, more disciplined too. I couldn't believe that this anger prone Osimhen could become the peace maker. The super eagles have displayed a huge oneness in this tournament and I wish them well as they go on to face the Egyptian god Mohammed Salah.

AFCON 2025 is really very interesting.

[Jostern]

Well I have seen how all the Nigerian guys here are blaming Samuel Chukweze because he missed a penalty, anyone can miss a penalty, However I knew nothing good will ever come out from Nigeria Super Eagles, Now everyone is disappointed because they lost to Morocco, I have been saying it in this thread that I’m not impressed with their performances and everyone was getting carried away by their unbelievable performances which was just a coincidence, Well I’m happy I have been vindicated, It was a terrible performance from the Super Eagles, I knew they were pretending to be good, they were never good, Super Eagles had no playing style in this Tournament so how were they going to win the Trophy.

Now everyone is disappointed and I’m happy now, how is it possible that a team doesn’t qualify for FIFA World Cup Finals and went on to win a major Continental Trophy, it has never been seen anywhere, Now we have teams who have qualified for the World Cup in the Finals, This are team that deserve to play and Win a major Trophy.

I knew Nigerian was going to play for the third place Bronze Medal I predicted it and that is what this Super Eagles Team Deserves.

[Callido]

Good one to the Moroccan, they got the win and I will definitely say it was not an easy one for both side as we see how they struggle for the game. Indeed we can not blame anyone for this, but the Nigerians taking the penalty was never a good one for them, as I already felt it that they are basically going to lose this game, it has never been favorable for the Nigerians during penalty shot out.

Not the result i expected, although it was a good game, we didn't win but so far in the tournament, i can say that this is the best defense we've played through out. Our attack was really poor, the strategy wasn't good enough to win us the game, including some biased refereeing, the game was systematically planned to favor Morocco, fortunately, the Super Eagles were able to grip to the final moment.

It's better off we don't get kicked out by conceding, a penalty shoot out is a fair way of missing the qualification for the AFCON final, now we have to see if to settle for the 3rd place.

[Abdulzuruku01]

Now it’s penalty shootout and my heart is pacing, with Bounou in goal for the Moroccans.

Morocco was definitely the better team and they had far better penalty takers. They had a more composed spot kick while, the Nigerian players came with an aura that they themselves could not contain. Chukwueze happened to have being brought on for the penalties and he trashed the opportunities he was given before it could get cold.

What a way to go but, someone has got to loose and Nigeria just happened to have done their most for the tournament.

It really paining me right now. Although the match was really good, it’s just the penalty knock out that kick my country out of the AFCON, the super eagles players really tried tonight, they did everything to see that they score so the match will not reach that stage of penalty kick, but still went to that stage. Seriously, Nigerian players really tried but is just how the football works the luck wasn’t by our side in this match. Congratulations to Morocco 🇲🇦 .

Honestly it was really a difficult match for both countries. Although Morocco was on the better side than Nigeria but one thing that impressed me more about the Super Eagles is that despite playing against players and Morocco fans, they still pulled off a strong performance. We can see the crowd from Morocco fans they occupied the whole stadium, and that's why the Super Eagles didn't have a chance to play as they used to even our attack was very weak we didn't have clear chances like Morocco had. Imagine if we didn't have a solid defense today, I believe we would've conceded because Morocco really pressured us, and the support from their fans helped them a lot in this match.

Nigeria players played their penalty kicks with fear, and the worst was Samuel Chukwueze penalty. Honestly I don't know what makes him feel like he's Messi. Had it been he scored his own it would have motivated the rest of the players because Morocco had already missed theirs. Congratulations to Morocco and Senegal for making it to the final.