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

[buwaytress]

SatoPrincess good luck asking anyone for a betslip here. So much talk, no show But hey, we get Mane vs Salah, possibly for the last time. I'll do everything I can to watch that but it doesn't look good as I'll be on a train that day and I doubt they'll let me stream on the wifi haha. For all the shit Nigeria's gone through, I hope they go on to take this, if not Senegal.

Lol, there are very few people here who would put their money where their mouth is. Nigeria is winning the AFCON, we have been the best team in the tournament so far. Unless there is a massive drop in form, I see no way Nigeria is going home without the trophy. I’m just as excited to see Salah go against Mane. I love Salah but he’s not winning an AFCON, not this one.

Yeah, so much talk on this side of the forum and so little doing. I guess as long as we keep letting them get away with it =p

Yeah I got eyes on Nigeria as well, but the odds aren't getting any of my juices flowing. In the BSFL round, I've picked the North Africans to meet in the final but this might be one of those days I'm happy to lose that to see a Senegal/Nigeria final.

Doubt Salah wins either, Egypt are a game management team. That only wins you trophies when the favourites have multiple off days.

[Adbitco]

The standing man of DR Congo in the ongoing AFCON. He caught the attention of the people who's been watching the competition and has gained global recognition from this act. He was only mimicking the legendary pose of his country hero Patrice Lumumba. This gesture was a result of respect and to remind the world who Patrice was. He stood for 90 minutes with arms raised, menhhh that's pure dedication because I can't even stand like that still for mere 3 minutes. When his country DRC faced Algeria and they were sent packing, the Algerian players disrespected and mocked this gesture, they do not truly understand what it means for the entire people of DRC because it was a direct provocation to them, I thought football was supposed to unite us? It's supposed to show respect to your opponents but they chose to disrespect them. When Nigeria won Algeria I'm very sure the DRC fans would be glad and to put icing on the cake, the Nigerian man decided to honour DRC by striking that same pose in respect and to remind the Algerian players to show respect. Personally, I love that message.

[Spaceman1000$]

The standing man of DR Congo in the ongoing AFCON. He caught the attention of the people who's been watching the competition and has gained global recognition from this act. He was only mimicking the legendary pose of his country hero Patrice Lumumba. This gesture was a result of respect and to remind the world who Patrice was. He stood for 90 minutes with arms raised, menhhh that's pure dedication because I can't even stand like that still for mere 3 minutes. When his country DRC faced Algeria and they were sent packing, the Algerian players disrespected and mocked this gesture, they do not truly understand what it means for the entire people of DRC because it was a direct provocation to them, I thought football was supposed to unite us? It's supposed to show respect to your opponents but they chose to disrespect them. When Nigeria won Algeria I'm very sure the DRC fans would be glad and to put icing on the cake, the Nigerian man decided to honour DRC by striking that same pose in respect and to remind the Algerian players to show respect. Personally, I love that message.

What Akor Adams did is what i call a show of sportsmanship in football, maybe to the Algerian player he didn't know that Patrice Lumumba paid the ultimate price for the libration of his people, and for that reason alone, the entire world not only DRC, respect's and honor Lumumba. That is why events like this should be hosted and for some persons to come to the awareness of other people's history and what they hold dear.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman and Founder of BUA Group, promised the Nigerian Super Eagles USD $1 million if they win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, in addition to USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.
Rabiu, Nigeria’s second-wealthiest man with a fortune of $9.8 billion, shared on X: “Congratulations to our Super Eagles players on a brilliant victory against Algeria! You have lifted the spirit of the nation, and we proudly cheer you on as you prepare for the semi-finals.”
“To encourage you, I pledge USD $500,000 to the players upon winning the semi-final, with an additional USD $50,000 for every goal scored. Should you go on to win the final, I further pledge USD $1,000,000, plus USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.”

Am very proud to see that the super eagles are been successful and are been supported by this one man and to me this is how to encourage people not just making them to feel discouraged i feel this is what the NFF should be doing right now and our so called government should be also boosting their efforts in playing well for the quarterfinals, when I came across such news it was really a great idea to boost their confidence and moral let all keep supporting them in anyway way we can…

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/nigerian-billionaire-abdul-samad-rabiu-promises-super-eagles-dollar1m-and/dryrkz1#google_vignette

I don't like this for one second, pure set up, see is good to motivate these guys but since they started motivating the Super Eagles how far have they gone? This is a period of full concentration no distraction that may attract confusion in the squad. No joking around should be the theme of the Eagles and now they want to support them  with money? I hope this doesn't get to their head because I so much love how the Eagles are playing without any form of promises by these messed up politicians, if they want to motivate the Super Eagles they should go to the NFF and speak to them about all these owing and all that, payment of bonuses is a must and no story, we have gone this far to get distracted by money motivation, they need it but anything that would start making them dropping this awesome performance they should put it aside, for me until they win the AFCON everybody should hold their money first.

[SatoPrincess]

When his country DRC faced Algeria and they were sent packing, the Algerian players disrespected and mocked this gesture, they do not truly understand what it means for the entire people of DRC because it was a direct provocation to them, I thought football was supposed to unite us? It's supposed to show respect to your opponents but they chose to disrespect them. When Nigeria won Algeria I'm very sure the DRC fans would be glad and to put icing on the cake, the Nigerian man decided to honour DRC by striking that same pose in respect and to remind the Algerian players to show respect. Personally, I love that message.

It was a dumb thing for Amoura to do, and while the Algerian national team have apologized to DR Congo, it’s still one of those things that should never happen in football. It’s not surprising a lot of people were happy that Nigeria knocked them out of the tournament.

[Spaceman1000$]

Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman and Founder of BUA Group, promised the Nigerian Super Eagles USD $1 million if they win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, in addition to USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.
Rabiu, Nigeria’s second-wealthiest man with a fortune of $9.8 billion, shared on X: “Congratulations to our Super Eagles players on a brilliant victory against Algeria! You have lifted the spirit of the nation, and we proudly cheer you on as you prepare for the semi-finals.”
“To encourage you, I pledge USD $500,000 to the players upon winning the semi-final, with an additional USD $50,000 for every goal scored. Should you go on to win the final, I further pledge USD $1,000,000, plus USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.”

Am very proud to see that the super eagles are been successful and are been supported by this one man and to me this is how to encourage people not just making them to feel discouraged i feel this is what the NFF should be doing right now and our so called government should be also boosting their efforts in playing well for the quarterfinals, when I came across such news it was really a great idea to boost their confidence and moral let all keep supporting them in anyway way we can…

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/nigerian-billionaire-abdul-samad-rabiu-promises-super-eagles-dollar1m-and/dryrkz1#google_vignette

I don't like this for one second, pure set up, see is good to motivate these guys but since they started motivating the Super Eagles how far have they gone? This is a period of full concentration no distraction that may attract confusion in the squad. No joking around should be the theme of the Eagles and now they want to support them  with money? I hope this doesn't get to their head because I so much love how the Eagles are playing without any form of promises by these messed up politicians, if they want to motivate the Super Eagles they should go to the NFF and speak to them about all these owing and all that, payment of bonuses is a must and no story, we have gone this far to get distracted by money motivation, they need it but anything that would start making them dropping this awesome performance they should put it aside, for me until they win the AFCON everybody should hold their money first.

Sincerely speaking I agree with you, this is probably a distraction to the team, the good thing is that some of the players are very wealthy as they are playing in European clubs that pay them handsomely, so 500 million is not too much of a big deal for some of those players. However i frown at this attitude of rewarding players just in the middle of the competition with financial gift, if at the end of the competition then super Eagles wins the title, then you can you can show appreciation but wanting to motivate players with cash gift at this moment is purely a setup.

[Sandra_hakeem]

I have never been convinced by the Tunisian national team. They are overhyped, not in the Africa Cup of Nations, not in the World Cup, not even in the Arab Cup. They just participated, played, and were eliminated. That's Tunisia,  in the end, it's all just empty hype.
Tunisia national team is very weak at the same time, because its players are old. There are players who are very old, like Sassi, Meriah, Sliti, Jaziri, and others. If they don't see it the need to sign younger players, then why should I care?
If they were a strong team, Mali shouldn't have gone past the round of 16.

This isn't the first time a team that's better throughout the match has lost to a weaker team in the penalties. Mali did it against the odds; they were destined to get to the quarter finals drawing all their games, but Senegal was too much for them.

[Marykeller]

Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman and Founder of BUA Group, promised the Nigerian Super Eagles USD $1 million if they win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, in addition to USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.
Rabiu, Nigeria’s second-wealthiest man with a fortune of $9.8 billion, shared on X: “Congratulations to our Super Eagles players on a brilliant victory against Algeria! You have lifted the spirit of the nation, and we proudly cheer you on as you prepare for the semi-finals.”
“To encourage you, I pledge USD $500,000 to the players upon winning the semi-final, with an additional USD $50,000 for every goal scored. Should you go on to win the final, I further pledge USD $1,000,000, plus USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.”

Am very proud to see that the super eagles are been successful and are been supported by this one man and to me this is how to encourage people not just making them to feel discouraged i feel this is what the NFF should be doing right now and our so called government should be also boosting their efforts in playing well for the quarterfinals, when I came across such news it was really a great idea to boost their confidence and moral let all keep supporting them in anyway way we can…

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/nigerian-billionaire-abdul-samad-rabiu-promises-super-eagles-dollar1m-and/dryrkz1#google_vignette

I don't like this for one second, pure set up, see is good to motivate these guys but since they started motivating the Super Eagles how far have they gone? This is a period of full concentration no distraction that may attract confusion in the squad. No joking around should be the theme of the Eagles and now they want to support them  with money? I hope this doesn't get to their head because I so much love how the Eagles are playing without any form of promises by these messed up politicians, if they want to motivate the Super Eagles they should go to the NFF and speak to them about all these owing and all that, payment of bonuses is a must and no story, we have gone this far to get distracted by money motivation, they need it but anything that would start making them dropping this awesome performance they should put it aside, for me until they win the AFCON everybody should hold their money first.

Money promised to them with get to their head, as how? Ain't most of the players in the Super Eagles squad earned such an amount before from their clubs? The billionaire to think within himself to do this, we should thank him for that, and also support the Super Eagles in the very way we can for performing this good.

If to be that the Super Eagles don't end up championing AFCON this time, we should at least tell them a job well done for performing more than we anticipated. It is not easy to stay unbeaten so far in the AFCON tournament

[Taricoins]

Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman and Founder of BUA Group, promised the Nigerian Super Eagles USD $1 million if they win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, in addition to USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.
Rabiu, Nigeria’s second-wealthiest man with a fortune of $9.8 billion, shared on X: “Congratulations to our Super Eagles players on a brilliant victory against Algeria! You have lifted the spirit of the nation, and we proudly cheer you on as you prepare for the semi-finals.”
“To encourage you, I pledge USD $500,000 to the players upon winning the semi-final, with an additional USD $50,000 for every goal scored. Should you go on to win the final, I further pledge USD $1,000,000, plus USD $100,000 for each goal scored in the final.”

Am very proud to see that the super eagles are been successful and are been supported by this one man and to me this is how to encourage people not just making them to feel discouraged i feel this is what the NFF should be doing right now and our so called government should be also boosting their efforts in playing well for the quarterfinals, when I came across such news it was really a great idea to boost their confidence and moral let all keep supporting them in anyway way we can…

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/nigerian-billionaire-abdul-samad-rabiu-promises-super-eagles-dollar1m-and/dryrkz1#google_vignette

I don't like this for one second, pure set up, see is good to motivate these guys but since they started motivating the Super Eagles how far have they gone? This is a period of full concentration no distraction that may attract confusion in the squad. No joking around should be the theme of the Eagles and now they want to support them  with money? I hope this doesn't get to their head because I so much love how the Eagles are playing without any form of promises by these messed up politicians, if they want to motivate the Super Eagles they should go to the NFF and speak to them about all these owing and all that, payment of bonuses is a must and no story, we have gone this far to get distracted by money motivation, they need it but anything that would start making them dropping this awesome performance they should put it aside, for me until they win the AFCON everybody should hold their money first.

When I see things like this I just feel there is a selfish motive going on behind that I can't just wrap my mind about it. Initially we saw the Super Eagles play this game with the passion that they want to win the AFCON for glory now they have added money to the whole thing. Now if they ended up winning the trophy, glory will be allocated to this politician as the stimulator of there success.

Plus there is an upside, apart from the regular money they will win if they end of winning it, the players now have an additional bonus, especially the low league players who don't have the type of wages players like the Iwobi's and Osimhen have.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

I have never been convinced by the Tunisian national team. They are overhyped, not in the Africa Cup of Nations, not in the World Cup, not even in the Arab Cup. They just participated, played, and were eliminated. That's Tunisia,  in the end, it's all just empty hype.
Tunisia national team is very weak at the same time, because its players are old. There are players who are very old, like Sassi, Meriah, Sliti, Jaziri, and others. If they don't see it the need to sign younger players, then why should I care?
If they were a strong team, Mali shouldn't have gone past the round of 16.

This isn't the first time a team that's better throughout the match has lost to a weaker team in the penalties. Mali did it against the odds; they were destined to get to the quarter finals drawing all their games, but Senegal was too much for them.

There was actually no way Mali would have beat Senegal in  that quarter finals, because I myself was asking myself how exactly they made it pass the round of 16, I watched that Tunisia v Mali game and to be honest, though Tunisia players were obviously old, they played way better than Mali did, they were just simply unfortunate in that game that it went into the penalty stage and unfortunate again for Tunisia, their goal-keeper wasn't as good as the mali's goalkeeper, this is what lead to the Tunisian side losing to Mali..

But anyways, thats is football, sometimes, things don't turn out the way they really should, and it leaves you wondering how did this end like this?, this is what we often refer to as "surprises" in football.

[Finebone]

The standing man of DR Congo in the ongoing AFCON. He caught the attention of the people who's been watching the competition and has gained global recognition from this act. He was only mimicking the legendary pose of his country hero Patrice Lumumba. This gesture was a result of respect and to remind the world who Patrice was. He stood for 90 minutes with arms raised, menhhh that's pure dedication because I can't even stand like that still for mere 3 minutes. When his country DRC faced Algeria and they were sent packing, the Algerian players disrespected and mocked this gesture, they do not truly understand what it means for the entire people of DRC because it was a direct provocation to them, I thought football was supposed to unite us? It's supposed to show respect to your opponents but they chose to disrespect them. When Nigeria won Algeria I'm very sure the DRC fans would be glad and to put icing on the cake, the Nigerian man decided to honour DRC by striking that same pose in respect and to remind the Algerian players to show respect. Personally, I love that message.

What Akor Adams did is what i call a show of sportsmanship in football, maybe to the Algerian player he didn't know that Patrice Lumumba paid the ultimate price for the libration of his people, and for that reason alone, the entire world not only DRC, respect's and honor Lumumba. That is why events like this should be hosted and for some persons to come to the awareness of other people's history and what they hold dear.

If am not mistaken, I think that the Algerian player apologized afterwards because he never thought that the viral fan that stood like a statue was paying tribute to honor Lumumba, so when he heard of the reason the viral fan was making that pose all game, he apologized, saying that he was just trying to banter, not knowing that the viral fan was paying tribute to the great Lumumba.
As for Akor Adams, he has done well, his actions proves that the love and togetherness among Africans can never be shaken. A fan said something that you don't mock your brother because you won, we are all the same since we are Africans, so it's high time we all move on from this and focus on the match between Nigeria and morocco.

[Odusko]

This should be a motivation to the team because the billionaires is just being happy to be a Nigerian at this point in time that the supper eagles are doing excellently in the Afcon this is very welcome development and at the same time big endorsement for the team to put in their best at the semi finals, talking about the money getting into the players head to want to score individual goals, this doesn't make sense since as a team the money are going to get shared after the tournament.

[Promocodeudo]

When I see things like this I just feel there is a selfish motive going on behind that I can't just wrap my mind about it. Initially we saw the Super Eagles play this game with the passion that they want to win the AFCON for glory now they have added money to the whole thing. Now if they ended up winning the trophy, glory will be allocated to this politician as the stimulator of there success.

Plus there is an upside, apart from the regular money they will win if they end of winning it, the players now have an additional bonus, especially the low league players who don't have the type of wages players like the Iwobi's and Osimhen have.

This what happens in national football sometimes not only in Nigeria but you're right but if they'll put more effort to win this AFCON because of this promise then it is fine, I don't think there's nothing wrong with that after all what Nigerians need is for them to win the trophy.
In as much as the end of this promise will result to success, I don't mind, at this point the super eagles need to be encouraged in whichever means, they have rarely played very well, they deserve everything, the Nigerian government need to come up with an offer too if they have not, this will help the players to play everything then know how to play in other to bring the trophy home.

[Zanab247]

This should be a motivation to the team because the billionaires is just being happy to be a Nigerian at this point in time that the supper eagles are doing excellently in the Afcon this is very welcome development and at the same time big endorsement for the team to put in their best at the semi finals, talking about the money getting into the players head to want to score individual goals, this doesn't make sense since as a team the money are going to get shared after the tournament.

I know that people love super Eagle of Nigeria, because this kind of pledge can only come from wealthy investors that love football. A big motivation to super Eagle, because it will make them to think twice to do everything possible to beat Morocco in the semi final, because once Morocco is out from this tournament it will be easy for super Eagle to beat their opponent in the final stage to lift the trophy and win all the pledge from wealthy men and women.

I know that super Eagle coach will give them more orientation about the money that will be giving to them if they win the trophy, because without a good orientation to the players it will make the players to play selfish game that will make them to miss many opportunities that will give them victory. Like those that will score goals in the semi final and final stage it will be good their coach clear their mind that the money will be share equally among the players so that it will allow the players to play their best.

[SatoPrincess]

This should be a motivation to the team because the billionaires is just being happy to be a Nigerian at this point in time that the supper eagles are doing excellently in the Afcon this is very welcome development and at the same time big endorsement for the team to put in their best at the semi finals, talking about the money getting into the players head to want to score individual goals, this doesn't make sense since as a team the money are going to get shared after the tournament.

I have never heard of this individual prior to this article. I can’t tell if he’s a genuine businessman or from a family with political influence because Nigeria loves to celebrate money without investigating the source. The trend of promising football players (many of whom are successfully in big teams in Europe) money for their performance is something I will never understand. Imagine doing this in a country where millions of children die every year due to cholera and lack of access to clean water.

[Wakate]

Still not happy happy with Super Eagles because had it been they started with this performance in the world cup qualifier they would have secure their ticket in the world cup. But it's well I think they will definitely leaned on this mistake because what we are seeing in this AFCON is completely different from the world cup qualifier, but it all good I hope they keep it running smoothly like this because their performance yesterday was an incredible one, just three days for semifinal.

If they have used the same energy to play the world cup qualifier, they could have been able to join the tournament this year.
I don't really like the idea of the super eagle playing like they are actually doing us good to beat Algeria when the most important tournament was not able to qualify for it. The AFCON is a small tournament compare to the world cup.

[uchegod-21]

When I see things like this I just feel there is a selfish motive going on behind that I can't just wrap my mind about it. Initially we saw the Super Eagles play this game with the passion that they want to win the AFCON for glory now they have added money to the whole thing. Now if they ended up winning the trophy, glory will be allocated to this politician as the stimulator of there success.

Plus there is an upside, apart from the regular money they will win if they end of winning it, the players now have an additional bonus, especially the low league players who don't have the type of wages players like the Iwobi's and Osimhen have.

This what happens in national football sometimes not only in Nigeria but you're right but if they'll put more effort to win this AFCON because of this promise then it is fine, I don't think there's nothing wrong with that after all what Nigerians need is for them to win the trophy.
In as much as the end of this promise will result to success, I don't mind, at this point the super eagles need to be encouraged in whichever means, they have rarely played very well, they deserve everything, the Nigerian government need to come up with an offer too if they have not, this will help the players to play everything then know how to play in other to bring the trophy home.

At this point, most countries in Africa want to see Nigeria win this year's AFCON. There is nothing wrong in motivating the players with incentives. Infact, I think they need all the motivations they can get to win the trophy. I do not believe that the glory will go to one billionaire because he promised them some incentives, the glory will go to Nigeria. If these financial reward will lead to success, then it should have the support of everyone. There is nothing selfish about it. People can be very passionate about football and the teams they support that they can give their all to see their team win.

[HajiBagi]

The standing man of DR Congo in the ongoing AFCON. He caught the attention of the people who's been watching the competition and has gained global recognition from this act. He was only mimicking the legendary pose of his country hero Patrice Lumumba. This gesture was a result of respect and to remind the world who Patrice was. He stood for 90 minutes with arms raised, menhhh that's pure dedication because I can't even stand like that still for mere 3 minutes. When his country DRC faced Algeria and they were sent packing, the Algerian players disrespected and mocked this gesture, they do not truly understand what it means for the entire people of DRC because it was a direct provocation to them, I thought football was supposed to unite us? It's supposed to show respect to your opponents but they chose to disrespect them. When Nigeria won Algeria I'm very sure the DRC fans would be glad and to put icing on the cake, the Nigerian man decided to honour DRC by striking that same pose in respect and to remind the Algerian players to show respect. Personally, I love that message.

Super Eagles players have respect and they know what football is all about, After Algeria defeated Dr Congo and one of their player celebrate to disrespect and man that is standing throughout the entire match i was not happy about it because you can’t defeat someone and still mocking him for what he is doing, Akor Adams is a very good guy and his attitude is one of the reason why he was love by Sevilla and he is happy in the team, scoring goals for them when they need him.

Algeria players behaviour after the match alone shows that some players don’t deserve to be a player, they wanted to fight the referee after the game and I like as the super eagles protest the referee and make sure things go well after the match, it is a shame to see a country like Algeria disrespecting their opponent or a referee after a game, Mahrez don’t have that attitude and they should learn from him.

[GiftedMAN]

This should be a motivation to the team because the billionaires is just being happy to be a Nigerian at this point in time that the supper eagles are doing excellently in the Afcon this is very welcome development and at the same time big endorsement for the team to put in their best at the semi finals, talking about the money getting into the players head to want to score individual goals, this doesn't make sense since as a team the money are going to get shared after the tournament.

Inasmuch as I know that the chairman of BUA group Abdul Samad Rabiu made this promise to motivate the team ahead of their next game and probably the final, this can as well cause a kind of selfish football by the players. Now that such huge amount has been promised to every goal, don't you think the players especially the attackers will be too selfish with the ball so they'll be the ones to register goals in their names? I'm not sure if the money for goals will be equally shared amongst players at the end of the tournament but if that's the case, then I don't see anything wrong with this. My major concern is to see Nigeria win the tournament, nothing more.

[Fiatless]

I have never heard of this individual prior to this article. I can’t tell if he’s a genuine businessman or from a family with political influence because Nigeria loves to celebrate money without investigating the source. The trend of promising football players (many of whom are successfully in big teams in Europe) money for their performance is something I will never understand. Imagine doing this in a country where millions of children die every year due to cholera and lack of access to clean water.

There are several billionaires in Nigeria who don't like publicity. You would know the ones who live luxurious lives or showcase their wealth on social media. Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu is the founder of  BUA Group. His conglomerate was founded in 1988 and has diversified into different sectors like cement, food, mining, real estate and many more.

You also need to read about his philanthropic works in the BUA Foundation. Whenever somebody wants to motivate our players, some of us come up with sentiments. We should hold the government responsible for the poverty and poor infrastructure. Other billionaires will prefer to spend their money on luxury cars and houses. So why are we criticising those who want to support our national team?