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

[Marykeller]

The recent happenings in the African games has been very compelling and has made many of us who have not been fans of this local tournaments to start developing interests. The ongoing African Championship tournament is really thrilling and the young lads are full of talent. Yesterday saw the Senegal game against Nigeria which I personally felt was supposed to end in draw before the ruthless mistake from the Nigerian Keeper which led to their defeat by 1 goal.

This would be a good place to run to and stay busy before the season kicks off. No more dull moments and I can say that CAF is doing a good job in organising these tournaments.

I still believe that Nigeria has a chance to win this tournament even though their defeat yesterday has placed them in a tight corner of qualification. Senegal is a tough team in the tournament and they might also meet in the finals if care is not taken.

Nigeria cuts my betting slip by loosing to Senegal. I predicted the game as a full time draw until Senegal scored Nigeria in the 2nd half of the game. I was hoping Nigeria would score an equalizing goal but they couldn't and the game finally ended with Senegal defeating Nigeria. Nigeria had better ball possessions and goals opportunity but lacks finishing, I was disappointed with the outcome because they had more quality players present in that match than Senegal and yet they couldn't score a single goal before the match ended. I wasn't happy that they didn't qualify for the world cup and now they have started messing things up. I think the Nigeria coach should come up a better strategy and also talk sense to his players.

This is the first match of the tournament, two more matches to go. The Nigerian team has to perform better when they face Sudan and Congo next. I believe 6 points will be achieved at the end of group matches as Senegal currently has 3 points, Sudan and Congo have 1 point, and Nigeria has 0 points.

If the Nigeria team wins Sudan and Congo next, in their upcoming matches, I believe we will be looking at them qualifying from the Group D table, to face the other "African team" for the AFCON's Championship

[buwaytress]

Finally. Hope this thread doesn't fill with the garbage of the past ones -- offence meant to those who do that haha. Always like this tourney if I'm honest, it's made for good betting markets on some of the emerging forces, and I won the last AFCON pool so hope to see some of the regular posters also cough up some cash to participate

Come on people this is a gambling sub, so let's see some bets!

[Dunamisx]

Current Discussion: African Nations Championship
This is a competition for home grown (based) players, Which means the international stars aren't welcome in this competition. It was created to highlight the talents of players playing in our different domestic leagues.

First of all, i like the way you take your time in explaining down the difference, because some may truly be convinced in them without knowing the difference, as one id solely for the local national team players within Africa, while the other as you have mentioned include both other players coming form other past of the continent, one thing id like about football is the way it unit people together from across the world, which is something worth to appreciate, when we all gather to play, watch and enjoy sports activities without having any geographical discriminations, in addition, knowing the various leagues is as important as how we could place value in our teams and players both locally and in the internationally settings.

[Franctoshi]

The only time I had enjoyed watching the super Eagles of Nigeria 🇳🇬  were in the 90s and early 2000 during the time of Jajay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Sunday Olisa , Finidi George and Teribo west Era, and that was when you see the players play with patriotic,  But these set of players are not putting enough work ,well I blame because of they the other past players were not taking much care of which lead to some of even hanging boot earlier than they should. I lost interest in watching these set of players, the other time I picked up interest was in the time of Keshi.

I don't know about others for me, the Super Eagles have not played good football after 1996. The 1993-4 team that won the African Cup of Nations and played quality football in the USA '94 World Cup. They beat Bulgaria, Greece and lost painfully to Italy in the second round. The Atlanta 96 Squad made up of some senior players, took the World by storm in the Olympic Games.

The coaches who achieved these feats were not world-class. But Clemens Westerhof and Jo Bonfrère were lucky to be surrounded by players who were desperate for glory. The current crop of Nigerian players don't have that drive.      

You forgot about the year 2000 nations cup which was hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, where the Super team made it through the final with Cameroon, that team played a fantastic football that tournament that they reached final but the luck were not on their side after the game ended on a 2-2 draw, That resulted in a penalty shootout, Cameron defeated Nigeria by 4-3 on a penalty shootout.
Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo,  Daniel Amokachi, Forward, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh, Rashidi Yekini, Joseph Yono, Austin Eguavoen and just to mention a few who played a vital role in that competition, Is were not only the 1994- 1996 that did well.

[Ndabagi01]

I saw Odumodublvck made a post talking about how he walked up to Tosin to play for Nigeria. I know the politics behind all these movements  and how much he must have pressed on the table of NFF for him to play for Nigeria. Congratulations to him on having that slot but my own opinion remains that, players who had no such plans to play for Nigeria during their early stages shouldn't be allowed to do so now. Godspeed to him yet again.

Is he currently unwell?
I am just getting to know this player now, I don’t see him that much playing in the European football or maybe I might just have missed him playing and not actually him be new. If he’s a great player, he’ll definitely find him way to play for the super eagles. Then I’m surprised why you made mention of him finding his way to play for the Nigerian super eagles. I thought since he’s an international player and he’s a good player, he doesn’t need to pay or bribe some top officials in the NFF before he can book a slot in the Nigerian Super Eagles team. Not showing interest initially could be as him not seeing the chances of him making it to the top of the team, but when an opportunity arises, they can make it there without any stress or principles prolonging it from happening that time.

[Perfectbaby]

I saw Odumodublvck made a post talking about how he walked up to Tosin to play for Nigeria. I know the politics behind all these movements  and how much he must have pressed on the table of NFF for him to play for Nigeria. Congratulations to him on having that slot but my own opinion remains that, players who had no such plans to play for Nigeria during their early stages shouldn't be allowed to do so now. Godspeed to him yet again.

Actually what people are wishing is for us to win but if we are considering the early stage then we could missed something very important or maybe we might not get those who are qualified to get there. Of course who knows how much he might pressed for having a slot knowing too well it gives them chances to display themselves globally.

[Joy- maker]

Sincerely speaking I don't know what is really happening with our super eagles this time around they are no longer playing good and interesting football anymore, and they really need wake up and make us proud this time around, just as our super falcons did in the WAFCON. I know that when it comes to the national team the super eagles players are not been treated the same wey they are been treated in there various clubs, but even as that they should put in their best when playing in the national team, because they representing their country Nigeria, and it will make no sense that will have good and quality players in super eagles and still can secure the AFCOM trophy.

[Agbe]

The recent happenings in the African games has been very compelling and has made many of us who have not been fans of this local tournaments to start developing interests. The ongoing African Championship tournament is really thrilling and the young lads are full of talent. Yesterday saw the Senegal game against Nigeria which I personally felt was supposed to end in draw before the ruthless mistake from the Nigerian Keeper which led to their defeat by 1 goal.

This would be a good place to run to and stay busy before the season kicks off. No more dull moments and I can say that CAF is doing a good job in organising these tournaments.

I still believe that Nigeria has a chance to win this tournament even though their defeat yesterday has placed them in a tight corner of qualification. Senegal is a tough team in the tournament and they might also meet in the finals if care is not taken.

Nigeria cuts my betting slip by loosing to Senegal. I predicted the game as a full time draw until Senegal scored Nigeria in the 2nd half of the game. I was hoping Nigeria would score an equalizing goal but they couldn't and the game finally ended with Senegal defeating Nigeria. Nigeria had better ball possessions and goals opportunity but lacks finishing, I was disappointed with the outcome because they had more quality players present in that match than Senegal and yet they couldn't score a single goal before the match ended. I wasn't happy that they didn't qualify for the world cup and now they have started messing things up. I think the Nigeria coach should come up a better strategy and also talk sense to his players.

sorry about your bet this is gambling for you Nigeria was truly poor yesterday in their game against Senegal if they continue playing this way they may not qualify to the next phase of the competition because their performance yesterday was not most Nigerians sports fans expected from them as they lacked composure and tactics yesterday

[Callido]

I hope the Super Eagles of Nigeria will sustain the latest trend set by Nigerians in the area of sports in general. Now Nigeria is dominating in female sports, football and basket ball have all been won by Nigeria and other sports will follow. We need to revamp the male sports especially football because we have the quality of players to do that. Vincent Nwabali, Victor Osimhen,  Lukeman Ademola, Ekong and many other players of the Super Eagles are in their prime, nothing stop us from dominating.

There is always problem with our men side of the team, how did they lose to Senegal. Our women gave us an applauding victory and brought the title home, meanwhile our men are not doing the same. I don't know much about African Nation Championship as it may not be captivating my time since major leagues are soon to begin, i will have to reschedule watching each highlights, until we get knocked out or remain to the end part of the competition.

the core take away from the game is that both team gave an impressive performance which shows that there are a lot of stars in our leagues that if giving an opportunity to play in the first team will do really well. it is the first league of the fixtures with more games to come. Congo and Sudan has already drawn sharing one point apart giving the group a neutral ground for anything to come from.

If they can't beat Senegal today that means they do not deserve to play in the first team, i just hope this guys realize that whenever they are playing against any country they automatically are playing against South Africa and Ghana because they always find pleasure seeing us lose in games. At least they should give us results to brag with.

[Y3shot]

Sincerely speaking I don't know what is really happening with our super eagles this time around they are no longer playing good and interesting football anymore, and they really need wake up and make us proud this time around, just as our super falcons did in the WAFCON. I know that when it comes to the national team the super eagles players are not been treated the same wey they are been treated in there various clubs, but even as that they should put in their best when playing in the national team, because they representing their country Nigeria, and it will make no sense that will have good and quality players in super eagles and still can secure the AFCOM trophy.

The truth is that most of the super eagles players are not even putting much interest in the game, they give their All to their respective clubs because of the interest to be signed in bigger clubs.

If you always watch their games in the national team you would see it is always boring because they have no interest. Another reason why I feel the is not putting their best to come up with best performance is because of poor Management.  Changing of coach often also plays a role for the performance of the team. I don't see reason why the teams performance shouldn't be impressive when their are good players .

[Tonimez]

Sincerely speaking I don't know what is really happening with our super eagles this time around they are no longer playing good and interesting football anymore, and they really need wake up and make us proud this time around, just as our super falcons did in the WAFCON. I know that when it comes to the national team the super eagles players are not been treated the same wey they are been treated in there various clubs, but even as that they should put in their best when playing in the national team, because they representing their country Nigeria, and it will make no sense that will have good and quality players in super eagles and still can secure the AFCOM trophy.

The truth is that most of the super eagles players are not even putting much interest in the game, they give their All to their respective clubs because of the interest to be signed in bigger clubs.

If you always watch their games in the national team you would see it is always boring because they have no interest. Another reason why I feel the is not putting their best to come up with best performance is because of poor Management.  Changing of coach often also plays a role for the performance of the team. I don't see reason why the teams performance shouldn't be impressive when their are good players .

There are many factors that could play a role in that series of disappointments they record during their outings with the national team which could include fear of sustaining injury to avoid being benched by their clubs. Prior to the coming of the present leader, they are not always rewarded they way they feel they deserve after every of their outings in any tournaments with accumulated arrears of benefits. So yo be on the safe side, they avoid falling into injuries for their country's sake to avoid loosing their place in their well paying clubs in the Europes and diaspora. Someone like Victor Boniface would never take the national team games for anything and has never scored for them even when he is a fire in the German league with several goals. I believe that with the recent payments winners of various tournaments are getting, they will get back to their winning ways.

I hope the Super Eagles of Nigeria will sustain the latest trend set by Nigerians in the area of sports in general. Now Nigeria is dominating in female sports, football and basket ball have all been won by Nigeria and other sports will follow. We need to revamp the male sports especially football because we have the quality of players to do that. Vincent Nwabali, Victor Osimhen,  Lukeman Ademola, Ekong and many other players of the Super Eagles are in their prime, nothing stop us from dominating.

There is always problem with our men side of the team, how did they lose to Senegal. Our women gave us an applauding victory and brought the title home, meanwhile our men are not doing the same. I don't know much about African Nation Championship as it may not be captivating my time since major leagues are soon to begin, i will have to reschedule watching each highlights, until we get knocked out or remain to the end part of the competition.

the core take away from the game is that both team gave an impressive performance which shows that there are a lot of stars in our leagues that if giving an opportunity to play in the first team will do really well. it is the first league of the fixtures with more games to come. Congo and Sudan has already drawn sharing one point apart giving the group a neutral ground for anything to come from.

If they can't beat Senegal today that means they do not deserve to play in the first team, i just hope this guys realize that whenever they are playing against any country they automatically are playing against South Africa and Ghana because they always find pleasure seeing us lose in games. At least they should give us results to brag with.

The games of the African Nations championship has been thrilling and I'm loving it. The Nigerian side gambled their opportunity to beat Senegal and crowned it all will a fatal mistake that handed Senegal the 1-0 win. Watching the game I began to wonder if they really play to win. But the AFCON championship players are only drawn from the domestic leagues which means no foreign players is allowed. This is a stage set to sell off our African young talents who don't have the opportunity for a place in the international clubs. This stage opens them to foreign scouts who would probably come for the best among them.

In the game between Mauritania and Tanzania which ended in 1-0 win in favour of Tanzania, you see passion in the face of the Tanzanian players. They play like who love to win even after being pressed by the Mauritanian team, they still pushed until Kapombe scored that tremendous finish. Looking at such game, you feel pushed to watch more and more of the AFCON championship games. Nigeria still has a tiny opportunity to qualify but it will take them more strength this time around because of their mistakes against Senegal.

[Coyster]

and how much he must have pressed on the table of NFF for him to play for Nigeria.

It is actually funny how Nigerians on this thread always have a problem against the NFF. It is either they are blaming the NFF whenever Nigeria loses a match, or making unfounded claims like the one in the quote above. Please give the NFF a break, they are not worse than other corrupt footballing bodies, for example: FIFA.

Congratulations to him on having that slot but my own opinion remains that, players who had no such plans to play for Nigeria during their early stages shouldn't be allowed to do so now.

And why is that, i absolutely do not see anything wrong in this. It is not like players can just change national teams at will, there are certain restrictions. If a players passes all these, and wishes to play for Nigeria, they should be welcome.

[Roseline492]

This is the first match of the tournament, two more matches to go. The Nigerian team has to perform better when they face Sudan and Congo next. I believe 6 points will be achieved at the end of group matches as Senegal currently has 3 points, Sudan and Congo have 1 point, and Nigeria has 0 points.

If the Nigeria team wins Sudan and Congo next, in their upcoming matches, I believe we will be looking at them qualifying from the Group D table, to face the other "African team" for the AFCON's Championship

Possibly the 6 point will definitely be theirs because it might not be too difficult after all, perhaps if super eagles was use to Senegal I believe they might have understand them more than this because they have not played any matches with Senegal for couple of years now and that was the first after those years but however there catch up is not impossible because they will definitely do that but the only thing is that they might not be the first on the group but as for Congo they would win to have a 3 point while they wait to meet Sudan and have another 3 point because Sudan is always very easy to beat by the super eagles.

[Rruchi man]

Please give the NFF a break, they are not worse than other corrupt footballing bodies, for example: FIFA.

You may be surprised that they are lol They may not just have had the chance to really show it on the world stage.

Congratulations to him on having that slot but my own opinion remains that, players who had no such plans to play for Nigeria during their early stages shouldn't be allowed to do so now.

And why is that, i absolutely do not see anything wrong in this. It is not like players can just change national teams at will, there are certain restrictions. If a players passes all these, and wishes to play for Nigeria, they should be welcome.

I also do not see anything wrong with any player suddenly deciding to want to play for Nigeria or any other country; sometimes the decision is not out of a place of pity but sometimes a place of patriotism, so I really support you on this.

Some of these players are just getting to really know their roots, some even making visits and falling in love with the culture. Not all of them are playing for Nigeria because they are uncertain of having a place in the other teams that they were in.

[Princess Leah]

The recent happenings in the African games has been very compelling and has made many of us who have not been fans of this local tournaments to start developing interests. The ongoing African Championship tournament is really thrilling and the young lads are full of talent. Yesterday saw the Senegal game against Nigeria which I personally felt was supposed to end in draw before the ruthless mistake from the Nigerian Keeper which led to their defeat by 1 goal.

This would be a good place to run to and stay busy before the season kicks off. No more dull moments and I can say that CAF is doing a good job in organising these tournaments.

I still believe that Nigeria has a chance to win this tournament even though their defeat yesterday has placed them in a tight corner of qualification. Senegal is a tough team in the tournament and they might also meet in the finals if care is not taken.

Nigeria cuts my betting slip by loosing to Senegal. I predicted the game as a full time draw until Senegal scored Nigeria in the 2nd half of the game. I was hoping Nigeria would score an equalizing goal but they couldn't and the game finally ended with Senegal defeating Nigeria. Nigeria had better ball possessions and goals opportunity but lacks finishing, I was disappointed with the outcome because they had more quality players present in that match than Senegal and yet they couldn't score a single goal before the match ended. I wasn't happy that they didn't qualify for the world cup and now they have started messing things up. I think the Nigeria coach should come up a better strategy and also talk sense to his players.

I totally understand how it feels to lose, especially when there's so much hope that the outcome of your prediction would be great but then you don't have to be very emotional about that lose especially if you bet with your spare money, except maybe you did it the other way round, anyways that's gambling, you win some and lose some life goes on.

 However if you're a Nigerian it's okay to be very disappointed at their performance, I know that Senegal has one of the best squad in Africa but with the level of players filled in the Nigerian squad they should be able to match Senegal's strength, the male football team should emulate the Falcons and try do better, they're very capable of doing so, I wonder why they don't.

[Amphenomenon]

Our very own, Chiamaka has been nominated for the Yachine award. Let's support her and write history, she did well to deserve the nomination and which is enough reason for she to get the award, stat don't lie: https://x.com/ESPNAfrica/status/1953429199433142459?t=ys7L62806VJfoRjUak5Jsw&s=19


Image source: https://x.com/AdemolaVictorTv/status/1953414895958913234?t=YxRauX2wFR3I4UiChl7vfw&s=19

[Zigabel]

I saw Odumodublvck made a post talking about how he walked up to Tosin to play for Nigeria. I know the politics behind all these movements  and how much he must have pressed on the table of NFF for him to play for Nigeria. Congratulations to him on having that slot but my own opinion remains that, players who had no such plans to play for Nigeria during their early stages shouldn't be allowed to do so now. Godspeed to him yet again.

Actually what people are wishing is for us to win but if we are considering the early stage then we could missed something very important or maybe we might not get those who are qualified to get there. Of course who knows how much he might pressed for having a slot knowing too well it gives them chances to display themselves globally.

If  he is actually a good player enough, all of the pressing and stuff shouldn't even come in for he to get s slot in the Super eagles because his talent will make way for him, you will not tell me the likes of boniface  and Osimhen will pay to play for the eagles, they will rather be on invitation because their impact isn't even negotiable at all so I think all of that had to happen for some reasons anyway I wish him the very best and pray he's worth the whole process that has brought him there where he is now.

[Coyster]

I also do not see anything wrong with any player suddenly deciding to want to play for Nigeria or any other country; sometimes the decision is not out of a place of pity but sometimes a place of patriotism, so I really support you on this.

Some of these players are just getting to really know their roots, some even making visits and falling in love with the culture. Not all of them are playing for Nigeria because they are uncertain of having a place in the other teams that they were in.

The thing is, a player cannot even wake up one morning and change national teams. If you have played more than three competitive matches for a particular country's senior team (not the Youth team), you can no longer change your national team, and you ought to have played those games before you are 21 years old.

You see how steep the criteria is. Some of these players switching to the Nigerian national team have only played for the youth team of their second country. So it isn't like they are "old men" switching to the Super Eagles; if that was the case and someone had a problem with it, then it is understandable.

[Rockson1]

Nigeria cuts my betting slip by loosing to Senegal. I predicted the game as a full time draw until Senegal scored Nigeria in the 2nd half of the game. I was hoping Nigeria would score an equalizing goal but they couldn't and the game finally ended with Senegal defeating Nigeria. Nigeria had better ball possessions and goals opportunity but lacks finishing, I was disappointed with the outcome because they had more quality players present in that match than Senegal and yet they couldn't score a single goal before the match ended. I wasn't happy that they didn't qualify for the world cup and now they have started messing things up. I think the Nigeria coach should come up a better strategy and also talk sense to his players.

The coach needs to understand that finishing line shouldnt be messed up, that match was full of some craps, Nigeria had some opportunities to upturn the match even to their favour but lack of finishing sense messed everything up for us, so what next, where are we, what have we achieved with all those ball possession and overall good statistics, has those been able to help us out in any way, the answer should be know I guess, hey I felt for you when you said your bet tickets was tored by Nigeria, I laugh because you have mind man, I don't bet it Nigeria for any reason to enable me be a free man beside I don't normally watch their matches is just recently I started watching their match but you need to grab something, don't get too emotional when betting, move on very quick when you lose a bet so that you won't continue hurting your feelings.

[Mr Reporter]

Nigeria cuts my betting slip by loosing to Senegal. I predicted the game as a full time draw until Senegal scored Nigeria in the 2nd half of the game. I was hoping Nigeria would score an equalizing goal but they couldn't and the game finally ended with Senegal defeating Nigeria. Nigeria had better ball possessions and goals opportunity but lacks finishing, I was disappointed with the outcome because they had more quality players present in that match than Senegal and yet they couldn't score a single goal before the match ended. I wasn't happy that they didn't qualify for the world cup and now they have started messing things up. I think the Nigeria coach should come up a better strategy and also talk sense to his players.

The coach needs to understand that finishing line shouldnt be messed up, that match was full of some craps, Nigeria had some opportunities to upturn the match even to their favour but lack of finishing sense messed everything up for us, so what next, where are we, what have we achieved with all those ball possession and overall good statistics, has those been able to help us out in any way, the answer should be know I guess, hey I felt for you when you said your bet tickets was tored by Nigeria, I laugh because you have mind man, I don't bet it Nigeria for any reason to enable me be a free man beside I don't normally watch their matches is just recently I started watching their match but you need to grab something, don't get too emotional when betting, move on very quick when you lose a bet so that you won't continue hurting your feelings.

I was really frustrated to see the team's inability to capitalise on scoring opportunities due to poor finishing.point about not getting too attached to a particular outcome, especially when it comes to betting, is well taken. I must say it is essential to maintain a level head and not let emotions dictate future decisions, which got me thinking that our players really need to work on their finishing skills specifically, or I believe there are some areas they should focus on to improve their overall performances. By taking these bold steps in hard training, it could help them a lot.

Sincerely speaking I don't know what is really happening with our super eagles this time around they are no longer playing good and interesting football anymore, and they really need wake up and make us proud this time around, just as our super falcons did in the WAFCON. I know that when it comes to the national team the super eagles players are not been treated the same wey they are been treated in there various clubs, but even as that they should put in their best when playing in the national team, because they representing their country Nigeria, and it will make no sense that will have good and quality players in super eagles and still can secure the AFCOM trophy.

First off,do you think the coaching staff or the players' mentality is more crucial in addressing this issue? I think our Super Eagles really need some inspiration plus improvement, which could include players from and players' fitness playing a very important role, and also having mental preparation and being more focused, tactical cohesion and some little bit of chemistry between themselves.It's really disheartening to see them underperform, especially given their talent. I think the Super Falcons' success in WAFCON is indeed inspiring, and we'd love to see similar excellence from the men's team. Well, I think they should have a renewed focus on teamwork; strategy and national pride could help them regain their form and bring glory to Nigeria.