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

[Adbitco]

South Africa 1 Vs Nigeria 0
I don't even understand this very match, as I was watching it, I was falling asleep because of how the game is going. What kind of pitch is this even? Did they organise a world cup qualifiers match on a swap pitch? Because that's what I'm seeing right there. South Africa is the more dominant team in this first half because since they scored,, Nigeria only entered their 18 yard box when they were about to play that corner kick, that's how inferior and toothless the Nigerian team has been so far in the match.

Edit
Finally, Nigeria equalises to make it 1 - 1 before the HT break. Need I stress that they are the ones that needs this three points most. They need to win South Africa

The pitch looks like it was deliberately selected so that Nigeria could not be able to perform well as we all know that Bloemfontein is not a place that the Super Eagles are familiar with. Out of the 13 times these two have met, it's only once that South Africa has won and would be looking to upset the balance.
What I noticed in this game really got me angry because it seemed like Nigeria didn't understand what was at stake in this game. Often making mistakes to the point that the first goal for SA came as a result of a mistake from  William Troost Ekong thanks to the fact that they kept mounting pressure on the Nigerians.
 Even though they are at a stalemate at halftime, what would determine that Nigeria takes all three points is if they add the fire that they started coming out with towards the latter ends of the half.

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

[Barikui1]

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

Yea, it's true that the pitch was really poor for a team like south Africa that has hosted a world cup before, that shows that they knows what they did, they knows that if the field is bad, it will be difficult for our super eagles team to play a free flowing football that day, but I wouldn't be making any excuses for them because they put themselves in this mess in the first place. The two coaches that was the coach of our super eagles brought this upon us, especially finidi George, he was a complete waste of a coach that is not even good enough to coach our local team rivers united. So as things stands now, the best we can get is a playoff spot nothing more because the top spot is almost secured by the south Africans.

[yenerbatmaz]

Nigeria earned one point away against South Africa in the match Osimhen didn't play in.
Benin currently holds the advantage in points, but Nigeria will have a home game against Benin.
Nigeria absolutely must win that match, or Nigeria won't qualify for the World Cup.
My main concern is Osimhen's condition. He suffered an injury and returned to Türkiye by private plane. According to the statement, he suffered bleeding and a bruise on his leg. How long will this injury last? There's a Champions League match next Thursday. Will he be ready for that match? Or will he be on the pitch for the league match next weekend?
I don't think he'll be on the pitch until Thursday, but we'll have to wait and see what the doctors' treatment will be.

[Jostern]

South Africa 1 Vs Nigeria 0
I don't even understand this very match, as I was watching it, I was falling asleep because of how the game is going. What kind of pitch is this even? Did they organise a world cup qualifiers match on a swap pitch? Because that's what I'm seeing right there. South Africa is the more dominant team in this first half because since they scored,, Nigeria only entered their 18 yard box when they were about to play that corner kick, that's how inferior and toothless the Nigerian team has been so far in the match.

Edit
Finally, Nigeria equalises to make it 1 - 1 before the HT break. Need I stress that they are the ones that needs this three points most. They need to win South Africa

The pitch looks like it was deliberately selected so that Nigeria could not be able to perform well as we all know that Bloemfontein is not a place that the Super Eagles are familiar with. Out of the 13 times these two have met, it's only once that South Africa has won and would be looking to upset the balance.
What I noticed in this game really got me angry because it seemed like Nigeria didn't understand what was at stake in this game. Often making mistakes to the point that the first goal for SA came as a result of a mistake from  William Troost Ekong thanks to the fact that they kept mounting pressure on the Nigerians.
 Even though they are at a stalemate at halftime, what would determine that Nigeria takes all three points is if they add the fire that they started coming out with towards the latter ends of the half.

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

I understand your sentiment, and I absolutely share your sentiment as well, whatever we’re facing now from the South Africans we deserve it, that pitch is a mess, how can an international game like that be played in such a pitch, well it’s quite obvious that they took the super Eagles of Nigeria there so they can disorganize them there, which I must say it’s a deliberate act of wickedness by the South African FA, and I must still say that we brought this on ourselves, if Nigeria had been winning games and are topping the table the situation wouldn’t be this way, because the Super Eagles have now found themselves in a very hard and difficult position, and I’m wondering if they can even qualify for the World Cup, I wouldn’t even blame the pitch for their bad performance, because they have played in better pitch in previous games, they couldn’t get a well deserved victory.

[HajiBagi]

Nigeria earned one point away against South Africa in the match Osimhen didn't play in.
Benin currently holds the advantage in points, but Nigeria will have a home game against Benin.
Nigeria absolutely must win that match, or Nigeria won't qualify for the World Cup.
My main concern is Osimhen's condition. He suffered an injury and returned to Türkiye by private plane. According to the statement, he suffered bleeding and a bruise on his leg. How long will this injury last? There's a Champions League match next Thursday. Will he be ready for that match? Or will he be on the pitch for the league match next weekend?
I don't think he'll be on the pitch until Thursday, but we'll have to wait and see what the doctors' treatment will be.

Osimhen playing Champions League depends on how fast he recover from the injury but I don’t see Osimhen playing the first games in the Champions League. So did you think that Osimhen absent affect Nigeria to win the match against South Africa? For me, I don't think Nigerian players are serious. Osimhen helps Nigeria a lot by scoring goals when they need it, but Nigeria can't rely on Osimhen, a country can't rely on one player because of what's going on now. After Osimhen was injured, no player wanted to stand up to assist Nigeria score  qualify for the World Cup, if the players couldn't win a game without Osimhen, why would they come to play for Nigeria?

Nigeria players need to be serious, and I am not happy with the current coach, even if he has never lost a game, but ending games with draws that we need to win is not good, and it is one of the reasons why Nigeria is at this point now, some still believe that Nigeria can still qualify for the World Cup, but I don't think it will happen because we didn't use the opportunity to qualify. Nigeria hasn't competed in the World Cup in a long time, and the players don't seem to mind, maybe they like it when Nigerians support other teams in the World Cup.

[RealNoblee]

You must have heard of this African slang "You go explain tire, no evidence". Its exactly what you are doing.
After all the strong performance put in by both Senegal and Nigeria, the Senegalese went home with the victory at the end of the day. The one goal is the evidence, so the Super eagles should do better next time, and stop giving unnecessary excuse or say things that will justify their loss.

It has been a norm in the Nigerian national team and management team to be crying over a spilt milk. We have competent players that can give us the result we so desire but they won't let them play due sentiments.
One may ask why, they know not, neither do they understand.

The Creators manual said:
Ecc 10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
https://bit.ly/BibleEN_kjv

[Coin_info]

So did you think that Osimhen absent affect Nigeria to win the match against South Africa? For me, I don't think Nigerian players are serious. Osimhen helps Nigeria a lot by scoring goals when they need it, but Nigeria can't rely on Osimhen, a country can't rely on one player because of what's going on now. After Osimhen was injured, no player wanted to stand up to assist Nigeria score  qualify for the World Cup, if the players couldn't win a game without Osimhen, why would they come to play for Nigeria?

Even with Osimhen in the game, Nigeria would not have still won. The South Africans did not come to play for a win, they were okay with a draw, and that should be the first reason the selected a very poor field for the game. The Super Eagles players still lack coherence so they struggled to play as a team.

Let's hope that they are are able to learn from this and rebuild a team, not just a set of players kicking the ball around and playing for themselves in the National team because if they don't qualify for the next world cup, it will be a shame.

[Rgram]

That is where the struggles lies, the super eagles couldn't achieve a victory over their match with South Africa, what a pity they don't have bold confidence in beating them, not even this time this was needed so badly against South Africa, I don't see a draw as something to write about, because there's no victory yet in it, which shows that none could afford the victory at last over the other, and now the Nigerian Super Eagles are at the worst of it all.

To me I feel Ola Aina's injury affected the game to an extent because he is one of the few players in Nigeriain team who can deliver good crosses from the wing and I believe we saw it clearly. The only good cross Nigeria managed in the whole game  ended up in a goal.  I think if he has stayed fit and continued playing, Nigeria would have more  scoring opportunities from those kinds of crosses.

[7juju]

Nigeria earned one point away against South Africa in the match Osimhen didn't play in.
Benin currently holds the advantage in points, but Nigeria will have a home game against Benin.
Nigeria absolutely must win that match, or Nigeria won't qualify for the World Cup.
My main concern is Osimhen's condition. He suffered an injury and returned to Türkiye by private plane. According to the statement, he suffered bleeding and a bruise on his leg. How long will this injury last? There's a Champions League match next Thursday. Will he be ready for that match? Or will he be on the pitch for the league match next weekend?
I don't think he'll be on the pitch until Thursday, but we'll have to wait and see what the doctors' treatment will be.

If Osimhen is not fit to play in the champions League his team Galatasary will have to make due without him. There's no way he's going to play with injury. Although it depends on how severe the injury is but I no he won't be allowed to play in the champions league if he's not fully fit. The champions league is still starting and if he miss this first leg it won't affect his team that much.

[Majestic-milf]

 Who else noticed the unapologetic mauling of Lesotho by Benin republic because I knew that it would not be hard for them to defeat Lesotho cause the team isn't as sound all round as their opponents, Benin. Gernot Rohr would make sure that since Nigeria were not able to get a win from South Africa, and would be hoping that they would lose(which is a very big impossibility) to Lesotho, it would to be to break their hearts and beat the competition out of Lesotho which was what happened and now they just don't have 14 points, they also have enough goal difference over Nigeria.
 You know the sad thing with this group Nigeria is in? If they had picked up themselves and acted like the Giants they are, they should have been the ones leading the pack and maybe the likes of South Africa and Benin would be in 2nd and 3rd place respectively but it's so sad that Nigeria is struggling to be in 3rd place and busy praying for miracles in their next remaining games against Lesotho and Benin.

[Roseline492]

That is where the struggles lies, the super eagles couldn't achieve a victory over their match with South Africa, what a pity they don't have bold confidence in beating them, not even this time this was needed so badly against South Africa, I don't see a draw as something to write about, because there's no victory yet in it, which shows that none could afford the victory at last over the other, and now the Nigerian Super Eagles are at the worst of it all.

They couldn't draw when we needed them to draw in some match they were losing but this one they have the only chance to see the world cup they went and draw, all the countries we have always compare them before has all qualified from there various groups to the world cup, Egypt joined the super eagles the last time but this time they rejected any obstacle of no world cup for them and now they are the champion of there own group.There are countries that has been the top notch of anything African league against the world cup and Nigeria is one of those countries but now they are the least to all the country. They shouldn't have conceived from South African first.

[knowngunman]

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

Can we just face the reality and agree that our players were just unserious from the beginning of this qualifying game? It's good to call a spade a spade and stop blaming the innocent pitch abeg. If the Super Eagle were serious from the beginning and win every match, we won't be here talking about this but they were busy taking every match for granted dropping important points and miraculously want to turn things around this crucial time. It's impossible thing to do for now, we should just forget about the upcoming world Cup and prepare for the next one. It's sad to see us watching other countries playing world Cup without participating for two consecutive seasons.

[Marykeller]

My congratulations to the Super Eagles team would come when we win the South Africa next, in two days. Any other congratulations before then won't be coming from me until I see them beat the South Africa team to prove a point that they want to qualify for the World Cup tournament next year. Although that doesn't make the Super Eagles stay ahead of the South Africa team because already South Africa is ahead of the Super Eagles with 6 points. Winning(if possible) would reduce it to 3 points. Having Lesotho and Benin to face next.

You're right, I think many of us think in the same direction, if they couldn't win Rwanda very well as we expected there's no need of congratulating those guys, i know I congratulated them but thats not what it really meant in my mind, I just did that so that it will not look as if no one gave them kudos, am not really happy seeing super eagles struggling to win national teams that doesn't equal their strength, just as you said I will be very happy to congratulate them and may be run some bottle of red wine with my friends if they outshine our south African brothers.

Our Super Eagles faced their African counterpart, South Africa, yesterday. How was the match for you like, yesterday? Was it encouraging or worth celebrating yesterday, or were you fed up with how bad the Super Eagles have become, with no hope of qualifying for the World Cup tournament again?

We all know that the last time the Super Eagles qualified for the World Cup was in 2018. If they fail to qualify for next year's World Cup, it would become 2 World Cup seasons(8 years) they have missed. It's a shame to say, the giant of Africa has lost their onion in football. It is the Super Falcons that are making us proud

[Davidvictorson]

I really felt that the Nigerian players didn't show enough urgency or fight when they were down by a goal, which might have impacted the outcome of the game.
The team's behavior, as you described, seemed relaxed and lacking in intensity, particularly when Ronwen Williams, the South African goalkeeper, held the ball.
You also mentioned that the Nigerian players appeared hesitant or afraid to tackle their opponents aggressively.

I don't even want to say too much. Last week, I made this prediction and it happened as predicted. If I had staked some amount, I would have won.

I can predict the next game that Nigeria will lose to South-Africa on Tuesday. It is not even about the manager it is about the players who are not playing together as a team and I feel that they are not putting in their best effort in it. I know the situation of the NFF but the players should at least put on more of their best. Today's goal should have been more than one and if we play like this on Tuesday, the opponent will equalize. But as for today, let us enjoy our it while it lasts.

I do not rate the super eagles at all. If it were their female counterparts, I would be sure they will make us proud.

[DiMarxist]

South Africa 1 Vs Nigeria 0
I don't even understand this very match, as I was watching it, I was falling asleep because of how the game is going. What kind of pitch is this even? Did they organise a world cup qualifiers match on a swap pitch? Because that's what I'm seeing right there. South Africa is the more dominant team in this first half because since they scored,, Nigeria only entered their 18 yard box when they were about to play that corner kick, that's how inferior and toothless the Nigerian team has been so far in the match.

Edit
Finally, Nigeria equalises to make it 1 - 1 before the HT break. Need I stress that they are the ones that needs this three points most. They need to win South Africa

The pitch looks like it was deliberately selected so that Nigeria could not be able to perform well as we all know that Bloemfontein is not a place that the Super Eagles are familiar with. Out of the 13 times these two have met, it's only once that South Africa has won and would be looking to upset the balance.
What I noticed in this game really got me angry because it seemed like Nigeria didn't understand what was at stake in this game. Often making mistakes to the point that the first goal for SA came as a result of a mistake from  William Troost Ekong thanks to the fact that they kept mounting pressure on the Nigerians.
 Even though they are at a stalemate at halftime, what would determine that Nigeria takes all three points is if they add the fire that they started coming out with towards the latter ends of the half.

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

I actually agree with this point of yours, the condition of the pitch was not looking good at all and it isn't encouraging, see the kind of pitch, used for word cup qualifiers, very poor. It was a World cup qualifiers match and I respect a pitch that would be more comfortable for both team to show their talent and end the game with a though score. I felt so bad after seeing the pitch, it was just as if south Africa FA choosed the pitch willingly not just to win the match , but to make the game very uncomfortable for the super eagles.
But the match was not also encouraging from Nigeria side apart for the pitch, they have been playing other game's as they like, and I expected more of them yesterday which, it is a qualification for the upcoming world cup and not a friendly match. The way our boys are playing, is not encouraging at all, at least thank God it's a draw and not a loss now we are second on the table let's see what's next and hope for the best.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

Yea, it's true that the pitch was really poor for a team like south Africa that has hosted a world cup before, that shows that they knows what they did, they knows that if the field is bad, it will be difficult for our super eagles team to play a free flowing football that day, but I wouldn't be making any excuses for them because they put themselves in this mess in the first place. The two coaches that was the coach of our super eagles brought this upon us, especially finidi George, he was a complete waste of a coach that is not even good enough to coach our local team rivers united. So as things stands now, the best we can get is a playoff spot nothing more because the top spot is almost secured by the south Africans.

I thought the same, that pitch they used was a calculated tactics to limit the performance of Nigerian players, no wonder their to goalkeeper was very confident in their winning since they've set a valid trap for Nigeria to underperform. Another thing is why was that field approved by the governing body for that match while there are better pitches in the country? Would that be called a deliberate attempt to stop Nigeria from qualifying?

I didn't really enjoy that match but I was glad Nigeria were able to share points with them. At least their antics didn't work out. Nigerian players must be more serious if they really want to go for world cup next year.

[Solodoski]

That is where the struggles lies, the super eagles couldn't achieve a victory over their match with South Africa, what a pity they don't have bold confidence in beating them, not even this time this was needed so badly against South Africa, I don't see a draw as something to write about, because there's no victory yet in it, which shows that none could afford the victory at last over the other, and now the Nigerian Super Eagles are at the worst of it all.

It such a pity that Nigeria might not qualify for the world cup, but I am not surprised because I don't think they deserve it anyways. The issue is not about the last match against South Africa, but they have been fumbling all along.
Sometimes I feel the boys really don't take playing for the country seriously. I would have loved to watch them in the world,  but the chances are very slim. We can all see how the South Africa team are serious at every match they have played throughout the qualification and they deserve to be at the world cup. I wish them all the best and pray The Super Eagles learn from this mistake and try to improve next time.

[Abbatty]

I would have to agree with you on this, because I don't understand the kind of pitch that the South African FA chose to use for the qualifying match Vs Nigeria. It's just as if it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the other team with the pitch. It's not even looking nice, as if it's a match between two village teams up against eachother. The Nigerian team doesn't really understand what's at stake, maybe they don't want to qualify for the world cup because they have never been serious since the start of the qualifiers.

Yea, it's true that the pitch was really poor for a team like south Africa that has hosted a world cup before, that shows that they knows what they did, they knows that if the field is bad, it will be difficult for our super eagles team to play a free flowing football that day, but I wouldn't be making any excuses for them because they put themselves in this mess in the first place. The two coaches that was the coach of our super eagles brought this upon us, especially finidi George, he was a complete waste of a coach that is not even good enough to coach our local team rivers united. So as things stands now, the best we can get is a playoff spot nothing more because the top spot is almost secured by the south Africans.

It just funny how everybody is complaining about the pitch like it was just The super eagles that played on the pitch, we were on the same with Bafana Bafana, they even made more mistakes than us, they game ore wrong passes than us. We lack passion. If we keep complaining how about the last minute chance that Ademola Lookman had, was that the pitch too. Or was is that picture too that the coach had do start Ekong. All respect to Ekong but he shouldn’t have start that match.

Well I don’t want to keep dwelling about that performance because I think it best we don’t even go for the World Cup. A team that lack passion, a team that don’t look motivated, a team that can fight for the badge, a team that have everything to top that group but still choose fumble. I don’t even think we deserve it.

[GiftedMAN]

Can we just face the reality and agree that our players were just unserious from the beginning of this qualifying game? It's good to call a spade a spade and stop blaming the innocent pitch abeg. If the Super Eagle were serious from the beginning and win every match, we won't be here talking about this but they were busy taking every match for granted dropping important points and miraculously want to turn things around this crucial time. It's impossible thing to do for now, we should just forget about the upcoming world Cup and prepare for the next one. It's sad to see us watching other countries playing world Cup without participating for two consecutive seasons.

Well that's true, the strength of that squad is enough to make their opponents fear playing against them but the Nigerian players were a bit weak from the onset a squad that's made of players in big clubs around Europe shouldn't be performing as poor as they did in the early stages, they're supposed to be the leading team on the table but it seem the players are more interested in performing well for the club side than country.

[Rockson1]

Can we just face the reality and agree that our players were just unserious from the beginning of this qualifying game? It's good to call a spade a spade and stop blaming the innocent pitch abeg. If the Super Eagle were serious from the beginning and win every match, we won't be here talking about this but they were busy taking every match for granted dropping important points and miraculously want to turn things around this crucial time. It's impossible thing to do for now, we should just forget about the upcoming world Cup and prepare for the next one. It's sad to see us watching other countries playing world Cup without participating for two consecutive seasons.

Am happy that you said this, some of us are just good at saying they tried, atleast they deserve acolade and I ask why do they deserve acolades, the countries national teams that has qualified are they not humans, it is unfortunate that we are never serious in this part of the world, i don't even know what to attribute it to, let's say the pitch for that particular match was bad what about other matches what happened to them, it is too bad, those guy's just wated our time, when they do their club they play as they want to take the trophy home that same day but in their national team, they got nothing to offer, it is very funny, I know that Nigerian government won't care if they eventually get injured along they line and may we can never tell that's they were careful with everything but whichever way, they did not do well that's the end.