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

[Accardo]

Cameroon coach and Eto problems is not affecting them because they were good in the first half and have had a strong game.

Mbeumo had a great assist today, although he didn't get much constructive chances playing with his country men in same pitch, the Cameroonian side felt his impact in the team,  however, Gabon pressed Cameroon at the last few minutes to the end of first half, say for about 15 minutes. The only issues with these African teams is the lack of tactics, Gabon had opportunities to score, which failed as a result of substandard team work.

[Harkorede]

Cameroon coach and Eto problems is not affecting them because they were good in the first half and have had a strong game.

Mbeumo had a great assist today, although he didn't get much constructive chances playing with his country men in same pitch, the Cameroonian side felt his impact in the team,  however, Gabon pressed Cameroon at the last few minutes to the end of first half, say for about 15 minutes. The only issues with these African teams is the lack of tactics, Gabon had opportunities to score, which failed as a result of substandard team work.

Mbeumo was the man of the match and it was duly deserved, for what its worth, he could have easily had 3 or 4 assists in the match, he played a player on with only the keeper to beat but squandered it wide, and later on in the game he also had a couple of another potential assists with one of the chances hitting the crossbar. Gabon didn’t trouble Cameroon much early in the game which was why the coach opted for a double substitutions inside the first half, only after which Gabon were able to settle into match. It turned out to be a win where Cameroon had to remain focused to secure, but they could have doubled their advantage as well.

[snipie]

The only issues with these African teams is the lack of tactics, Gabon had opportunities to score, which failed as a result of substandard team work.

Yes that's true and not the only reason in fact. In Africa mainly, less in South America and Asia, many defeats were attributed to the lack of discipline from the players, absence of concentration in the game and the motivation issue.
When you see the game played today or even yesterday, you will notice that most of them ended with few goals, one goal difference and barely two.. At the opposite of UEFA and even CONMEBOL, there is many goals scored in most games regardless of the quality of both sides.

[Youngrebel]

Are you on some grass?! I'll look for you and give you a hot knock on your head. Fvck you and your man of God!! Complete bullshit  
You're just here to write shite and probably complete your post. Ademola Lookman lost his spark after being tormented by Atalanta when they refused selling him to Inter Milan. He is not the problem with the national team but rather, the Nigerian football federation who have decided to have us tormented. Alex Iwobi is the most talked about, he gave two quality assist. Glad we won but, Nigeria do not have a good team playing quality football.

There is no need to insult people here. It is common trending in social media. And that make me to do some research on the matter and I found out that it is not only on social media but also in google search. You can see the information here. Click. You know African Prophets are looking for Members to increase their Churches so that the offering will increase. Finally the Lookman was the one lead Nigeria to Victory against Tanzania.

[Adiljutt156]

This match does not give any confidence that the Super Eagles can win the tournament. Tanzania is not a top team so it truly bothers me that the Super Eagles couldn’t beat them easily. There is no reason why this match should be so close.

The super Eagles of Nigeria are actually trying their best and they are playing good football, but whenever I look at the squad, I feel that the actually need to give more. Just like during the match with the Zimbabwe side, I was just looking at the number of Premier League players in the Nigerian super Eagles squad. In Fulham I already found three active players in the persons of Chukwueze, Bassey and Iwobi. I found Ndidi, Lookman, Osimhen, infact almost all the guys play in the top tier football. So, what then is the excuse.

Super Eagles actually need to do more if they aim to win this season's AFCON. They should learn to score goals, I mean alot of goals in order to survive. Another problem I could see is the Super Eagles goalie. I don't trust him a beat.

Nigeria national football team played very excellent in the last match because they did back to back 2 goals in this match and opponent team could do only 1 goal in this match. Ajayi was a person who did first goal of the match and he did this goal at 36 minutes of the match and he gave good start to his team and we saw good effort by that player. M'Mombwa was a player who did second goal of the match and he did this goal at 50 minutes of the match and opponent team release pressure in this match because they need to work to do goals in this match. Tanzania  football team performance was poor in this match because their shots were less in this match which were only 6 and 3 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 41 percent in this match . The fouls of that team were 5 in this match and 0 yellow card in this match. Lookman was a person who did last goal of the match and he did this goal at  52 minutes of the match and we saw 3 goals in this match and 2 by one team and 1 by other team.

[KingsDen]

The only issues with these African teams is the lack of tactics, Gabon had opportunities to score, which failed as a result of substandard team work.

Yes that's true and not the only reason in fact. In Africa mainly, less in South America and Asia, many defeats were attributed to the lack of discipline from the players, absence of concentration in the game and the motivation issue.
When you see the game played today or even yesterday, you will notice that most of them ended with few goals, one goal difference and barely two.. At the opposite of UEFA and even CONMEBOL, there is many goals scored in most games regardless of the quality of both sides.

When you say lack of tactics, remember that you meant poor coaching. This is because tactics comes from coaches and not players.
I am not surprised although. This is because African countries cannot afford world class coaches. For instance, Brazil could afford Real Madrid Ancelotti, likewise as England afforded Tuchel. The big question is, can Zimbabwe afford or attract Jürgen Klopp?
If no, don't expect African football to be so polished as you wish or as you see every weekend in England, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Goal wise, I can say that there's an improvement compared to previous AFCON. Countries have improved in scoring goals.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Have we noticed that since the beginning of this ongoing AFCON is the bigger boys that have been getting all 3pt, winning their games even if is 1nil, the highest is a draw but the big sides are yet to drop point in the first leg of the group stage, I wonder when are we to see one or two strong countries lose their game. Who's going to be the first to lose to a smaller side? I hope not Nigeria because they did well in their game so they should top the group.

[Nightwatchmare]

At the end it was Ademola Llokman that finally won the match for Nigeria, the same person that was talked about badly few days online and some of them were of opinion the coach drops him from the team and some even said they should not have called him up for the competition. So many talks were just going around concerning him because his not been able to score In some matches. Tight now his the same person that scored the winning goal and secured Nigerias first three points in the competition.

Check the spelling.  I saw a prophecy from a Man of God that, Ademola Lookman should not play the tournament because he will brings bad fortune to the team Super Eagles. I don't like to criticize or oppose Men of God but they have to tell the truth in the public to avoid panicking. The matter how bad Ademola Lookman is, he is better than many players who is only running around the field. Ademola Lookman can assist to score and can also score goals. Super Eagles as a whole is in a big dilemma. After this tournament should look for all means to bring in new vibrant players to the team so they can move the club forward. If not Super Eagles will die and small teams would be beating them like children.

I do not take the Nigerian men of God seriously because they are one of the problems we have in Nigeria, and the man of God that prophesied that Ademola Lookman should not play for the super eagles of Nigeria in the Afcon should go and sit down because is prophecy is fake and it will not stop Ademola Lookman from shining for the super eagles of Nigeria in the Afcon. Men of God should leave football and focus more on things of God. Ademola Lookman's performance and goal for the super eagles of Nigeria yesterday have proven that what the man of God said about him is just fake.

[MainIbem]

At the end it was Ademola Llokman that finally won the match for Nigeria, the same person that was talked about badly few days online and some of them were of opinion the coach drops him from the team and some even said they should not have called him up for the competition. So many talks were just going around concerning him because his not been able to score In some matches. Tight now his the same person that scored the winning goal and secured Nigerias first three points in the competition.

Check the spelling.  I saw a prophecy from a Man of God that, Ademola Lookman should not play the tournament because he will brings bad fortune to the team Super Eagles. I don't like to criticize or oppose Men of God but they have to tell the truth in the public to avoid panicking. The matter how bad Ademola Lookman is, he is better than many players who is only running around the field. Ademola Lookman can assist to score and can also score goals. Super Eagles as a whole is in a big dilemma. After this tournament should look for all means to bring in new vibrant players to the team so they can move the club forward. If not Super Eagles will die and small teams would be beating them like children.

I do not take the Nigerian men of God seriously because they are one of the problems we have in Nigeria, and the man of God that prophesied that Ademola Lookman should not play for the super eagles of Nigeria in the Afcon should go and sit down because is prophecy is fake and it will not stop Ademola Lookman from shining for the super eagles of Nigeria in the Afcon. Men of God should leave football and focus more on things of God. Ademola Lookman's performance and goal for the super eagles of Nigeria yesterday have proven that what the man of God said about him is just fake.

I saw the story too and my though is that the said prophet should be put behind bars so other fake prophets would learn, I learnt that's this particular prophet has had series of fake prophecy in the past before now, from prophesying that Buharii would lose his election to Peter Obi emerging as President instead of Tinubu and now another fake prophecy that Lookman would be the doom of the Super Eagles, same Lookman that gave the Super Eagles their winning goal against Tanzania. All these prophets need to know their place cause football ain't won by prophecy, it's good that Chelle wasn't foolish enough to listen to his fake prophecy and bench Ademola Lookman.

[SatoPrincess]

Have we noticed that since the beginning of this ongoing AFCON is the bigger boys that have been getting all 3pt, winning their games even if is 1nil, the highest is a draw but the big sides are yet to drop point in the first leg of the group stage, I wonder when are we to see one or two strong countries lose their game. Who's going to be the first to lose to a smaller side? I hope not Nigeria because they did well in their game so they should top the group.

I’m not very optimistic about Nigeria’s chances in the AFCON this year, they have disappointed me too many times. I can’t be disappointed by club football and face worse things in national team. But still I think the AFCON is a very predictable tournament. Even with Nigeria’s poor performance you can bet on them to reach quarter finals of the competition.

[DYOR+BTC]

Have we noticed that since the beginning of this ongoing AFCON is the bigger boys that have been getting all 3pt, winning their games even if is 1nil, the highest is a draw but the big sides are yet to drop point in the first leg of the group stage, I wonder when are we to see one or two strong countries lose their game. Who's going to be the first to lose to a smaller side? I hope not Nigeria because they did well in their game so they should top the group.

I hope the super eagles of Nigeria is not among the big  boys you are talking about because I see nothing special about the Nigeria team in this tournament. There are various criteria used for the identification of a good team, one is the winning games when it matters, there dominating strength when they play and there consistency level. As for the super eagles of Nigeria, they lack all this qualities in them that is why they find it difficult showing the stuffs they are doing,instead they go about doing nonsense when all are expecting a good result from them

[SatoPrincess]

Have we noticed that since the beginning of this ongoing AFCON is the bigger boys that have been getting all 3pt, winning their games even if is 1nil, the highest is a draw but the big sides are yet to drop point in the first leg of the group stage, I wonder when are we to see one or two strong countries lose their game. Who's going to be the first to lose to a smaller side? I hope not Nigeria because they did well in their game so they should top the group.

I hope the super eagles of Nigeria is not among the big  boys you are talking about because I see nothing special about the Nigeria team in this tournament. There are various criteria used for the identification of a good team, one is the winning games when it matters, there dominating strength when they play and there consistency level. As for the super eagles of Nigeria, they lack all this qualities in them that is why they find it difficult showing the stuffs they are doing,instead they go about doing nonsense when all are expecting a good result from them

Yes I agree that there is nothing special about the current Super Eagles squad despite having incredible talents in the squad like Lookman, Osimhen, Nwabali, and the rest. Regardless of their current dip in form, and how you feel about them, Nigeria still holds their place as one of the top 5 teams in Africa according to FIFA rankings.

[AprilioMP]

Cameroon coach and Eto problems is not affecting them because they were good in the first half and have had a strong game.

Mbeumo had a great assist today, although he didn't get much constructive chances playing with his country men in same pitch, the Cameroonian side felt his impact in the team,  however, Gabon pressed Cameroon at the last few minutes to the end of first half, say for about 15 minutes. The only issues with these African teams is the lack of tactics, Gabon had opportunities to score, which failed as a result of substandard team work.

Mbeumo did indeed play the full game and was the player who provided the assist for Cameroon's only winning goal. His teammate Andre Onana was not included in the Cameroon national team's lineup for yesterday's match, and his name was not on the bench either. Was he also dropped due to poor performance?

Gabon performed statistically well in the second half, while Cameroon took the lead early in the first half. The Gabon coach chose not to start Lemina and Aubameyang but brought them on as substitutes.
In Group F, both Cameroon and Ivory Coast secured full points with the match ending in a draw.

[Promocodeudo]

I hope the super eagles of Nigeria is not among the big  boys you are talking about because I see nothing special about the Nigeria team in this tournament. There are various criteria used for the identification of a good team, one is the winning games when it matters, there dominating strength when they play and there consistency level. As for the super eagles of Nigeria, they lack all this qualities in them that is why they find it difficult showing the stuffs they are doing,instead they go about doing nonsense when all are expecting a good result from them

I understand you vestation, if not that the super eagles team are missing up sometimes, I think we can't mention the big boy here without telling coming first or second.
When I first spotted on your first paragraph, I already know where you're heading to, mate most of us are disappointed in those guys, all you said here is true, super eagles don't win when they have several opportunities to do so, they are good at unnecessarily creating tension which is bad, whenever I trace back to the just concluded world qualifiers, I feel like spilling some stuff but I won't because their performance didn't come as a surprise to me and I promise myself that I won't allow their shit to affect my mental health and I advise that you shouldn't allow such too.

[mandown]

I watched the Cameroon vs. Gabon match. Didn't these players come prepared from their teams? I don't understand their finishing.
There were many chances in the match, but their shots either went into space or directly at the goalkeepers.
Those who bet on over 2.5 goals in this match must have had a nervous breakdown.
Cameroon won 1-0. They scored that goal early in the match. The linesman raised the offside flag, but the goal was given after a VAR check. Cameroon still plays good football. I didn't like Gabon much.

[Fiatless]

When you say lack of tactics, remember that you meant poor coaching. This is because tactics comes from coaches and not players.
I am not surprised although. This is because African countries cannot afford world class coaches. For instance, Brazil could afford Real Madrid Ancelotti, likewise as England afforded Tuchel. The big question is, can Zimbabwe afford or attract Jürgen Klopp?
If no, don't expect African football to be so polished as you wish or as you see every weekend in England, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Goal wise, I can say that there's an improvement compared to previous AFCON. Countries have improved in scoring goals.

Nigeria can afford any catch they want in the world. The problem is that many factors will discourage them from taking jobs in Africa. Insecurity might be one of the reasons many world-class coaches will not take the Super Eagles job. Secondly is corruption and undue interference by the Nigerian Football Federation. Top coaches will want to have full independence to run the affairs of the team. In Nigeria list of players will come from different sources and the coach will be forced to feature them.

[yenerbatmaz]

From what I've seen of the first matches of the AFCON, the favorite teams have won their first games.
I had the opportunity to watch the Nigeria match. (Osimhen plays in Türkiye, so there's interest in his matches in Türkiye)
Nigeria beat Tanzania 2-1, but Osimhen didn't score. He scored in one instance, but it was disallowed for offside. He was also unlucky in another.
My favorite is definitely Nigeria. They will advance to the next round without losing a single match in the group stage.

[Barikui1]

Nigeria can afford any catch they want in the world. The problem is that many factors will discourage them from taking jobs in Africa. Insecurity might be one of the reasons many world-class coaches will not take the Super Eagles job. Secondly is corruption and undue interference by the Nigerian Football Federation. Top coaches will want to have full independence to run the affairs of the team.

The biggest problem why i think  that top coaches would not want to coach the Nigerian national team is because of the higher level of interference, added with their desire of not wanting to reside in Africa, because if it's about money, Nigeria is actually blessed with that, another problem is the NFF, will they want to spend so much on a manager when cheaper alternative are available?

In Nigeria list of players will come from different sources and the coach will be forced to feature them.

No, I strongly disagree with this your statement here, long gone are those days when things like that use to happen, but not anymore. Right now which player in our super eagles that you think that is not deserving of his place?
If you are talking about how the NFF will stop the Coach from picking a player that always agitated for the allowance to be paid, it's understandable, but forcing a player on a coach is what I greatly disagree on.

[Rockson1]

Nigeria can afford any catch they want in the world. The problem is that many factors will discourage them from taking jobs in Africa. Insecurity might be one of the reasons many world-class coaches will not take the Super Eagles job. Secondly is corruption and undue interference by the Nigerian Football Federation. Top coaches will want to have full independence to run the affairs of the team. In Nigeria list of players will come from different sources and the coach will be forced to feature them.

That is our problem and have the government done anything so far, the answer is already known to us but will things remain like this, that should be a question for another day.
I don't have enough thing to say again since you have carefully listed the reason some coaches will not want to take offer from us, the corruption part is just what I do not understand, NFF is now taking it as a normal thing because even if we ask, there master won't answer anybody because he si doing the same.
It is very unfortunate that we can discuss our football without mentioning corruption, that is how dip it has eaten into our system.

[Fiatless]

No, I strongly disagree with this your statement here, long gone are those days when things like that use to happen, but not anymore. Right now which player in our super eagles that you think that is not deserving of his place?
If you are talking about how the NFF will stop the Coach from picking a player that always agitated for the allowance to be paid, it's understandable, but forcing a player on a coach is what I greatly disagree on.

You might be right because almost all the players on the team deserve to play based on club performance. But we know how bad the system is that almost everything in the country is tribalism, added with religious sentiment and influenced by monetary inducement. I don't like the idea of sidelining players who protested due to wages. NFF failed in their responsibility and shouldn't blame players for expressing their grievance.