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

[Mayor of ogba]

I am watching the African Cup of Nations third place game between Egypt and Nigeria. I won't watch the second half of the match because the Super Eagles are playing without some of their key players, and because of that, the match isn't interesting to watch. Egypt is dominating the Super Eagles in terms of ball possession, while the Super Eagles have more chances than Egypt, and the Super Eagles scored a goal, but it was disallowed because of a foul committed by Onuachu.

I am also watching it and was not too disappointed with the performance of the Super Eagles. Even with the absence of some key players they are giving the Pharaohs. Nigeria have had two goals disallowed. The first disallowed goal was controversial. The second one was a clear offside. The second half is far better; the Super Eagles' attack is doing a good job. The removal of Victor Onunchu is bearing fruit, he was sluggish up front.

Yes, the Super Eagles still performed well against Egypt even though they played without some of their key players. In my humble opinion, the Super Eagles' first goal against Egypt should have stood, but I don't know why VAR decided to cancel the goal. I didn't continue the match in the second half, just like I said in my previous post, so I don't know that the Super Eagles improved their performance in the second half, but thanks for letting me know.

[ajanwalker]

Nigeria won the third-place match on penalties, but they deserved to win anyway. Nigeria scored in the first half, but VAR intervened and disallowed the goal due to a foul. I don't think the player who scored committed a foul. In Onuachu's situation, the defender made it seem like there was a foul. VAR ruled it a foul, and the goal was disallowed. Nigeria played a superior game.

They finished third in the AFCON, even if it was on penalties.

Whenever I watch Salah take penalties, he always misses. If I were the coach, I wouldn't give him a penalty.

I don't know if there will be another bonus crisis after Nigeria's third-place finish, because bonus crises have become a part of the Nigerian national team.

[Oshio-man]

Senegal vs Morocco final match is today, I known many fans will like to support Senegal to defeat Morocco in this match because they know how Morocco struggle to escape from the hands of super eagle to qualified for final stage that is about to take place today, but I don't think this match will end up penalty shootout because Senegal have more experience players than Morocco unless Morocco takes advantage of refere to defeat Senegal to win the title, but if the referee is a truthful referee in this final stage Senegal will defeat Morocco 2-0 to achieve the title from Morocco because they have talented players in this season.

[BitBakerr1]

Senegal vs Morocco final match is today, I known many fans will like to support Senegal to defeat Morocco in this match because they know how Morocco struggle to escape from the hands of super eagle to qualified for final stage that is about to take place today, but I don't think this match will end up penalty shootout because Senegal have more experience players than Morocco unless Morocco takes advantage of refere to defeat Senegal to win the title, but if the referee is a truthful referee in this final stage Senegal will defeat Morocco 2-0 to achieve the title from Morocco because they have talented players in this season.

Africa cup of nations is something that they want to bring down, in the match between Nigeria and Morocco everyone knew that the referee was biased he was totally against Nigeria he wanted Morocco to win and I believe they gave him huge amount of money to do what he was doing and the people that did that was the Morocco government and it won’t be a surprise to me that the referee that will be officiating this match today is already bribed by Morocco government to support Morocco, and the way the Morocco fan are bullying any team playing against them is just too much I just pray and hope Senegal will win them in today’s match and lift the Africa cup of nations. FIFA should look into the matter of referees collecting bribe because is not good at all.

[Rgram]

I’ll say the Super Eagles have finally found their feet again after many years. At last, they now have a solid team and a coach that understands the players and knows how to set them up. You can see the togetherness, the discipline, and the belief in the way they play. It feels like the team is now moving in the right direction.
I really wish they had qualified for the World Cup though. It pretty hurts because with the level of performance they exhibited at the afcon, I know they would not have disappointed Nigerians. They played with determination and I believe they could have gone far if they were on that World Cup stage. I just hope this team stays together and keeps improving for the future.

[Rgram]

Africa cup of nations is something that they want to bring down, in the match between Nigeria and Morocco everyone knew that the referee was biased he was totally against Nigeria he wanted Morocco to win and I believe they gave him huge amount of money to do what he was doing and the people that did that was the Morocco government and it won’t be a surprise to me that the referee that will be officiating this match today is already bribed by Morocco government to support Morocco, and the way the Morocco fan are bullying any team playing against them is just too much I just pray and hope Senegal will win them in today’s match and lift the Africa cup of nations. FIFA should look into the matter of referees collecting bribe because is not good at all.

It’s the final, and the whole world will definitely be watching. Even though I would want Morocco to win, I expect the referee to officiate the match fairly. At this level, there should be no favoritism. The outcome should be decided by the players and not by poor refereeing decisions.
What that referee from Ghana did to the Super Eagles will surely be remembered for a long time. He clearly went against Nigeria, and that was a big mistake on his part. Trust me, that refree will not go far in his career because history will always remember what he did.
I just hope today’s final will be different. Let the referee do his job properly and allow the best team to win. That is the only way Afcon can gain respect and move forward.

[snipie]

They finished third in the AFCON, even if it was on penalties.

Whenever I watch Salah take penalties, he always misses. If I were the coach, I wouldn't give him a penalty.

I don't know if there will be another bonus crisis after Nigeria's third-place finish, because bonus crises have become a part of the Nigerian national team.

Finishing third isn't an honour these days. I mean this achievement could be done by several teams and it is not like playing the final game whether you finished first or second.
Egypt defeat was expected anyway and the fact that international players makes you lose through penalties should push the coach and management to reconsider their choice. Starting with a failed penalty will destroy fragile players especially when the starter is the best player in the team presumably..

[Salahmu]

Yes, the Super Eagles still performed well against Egypt even though they played without some of their key players. In my humble opinion, the Super Eagles' first goal against Egypt should have stood, but I don't know why VAR decided to cancel the goal. I didn't continue the match in the second half, just like I said in my previous post, so I don't know that the Super Eagles improved their performance in the second half, but thanks for letting me know.

The third place only got to penalty because of Osimhen, Bassey and Ndidi because this three are the main part of the back, center and front for super eagles, so if Osimhen was on that front he would have relief super eagles from going on extra 15 minutes of extra time because of finding the winning country, really if there was no Morocco on this game the trophy wouldn't go beyond super eagles because if super eagles can play more than Egypt they will also play than Senegal. They didn't put Chukweze after his penalty on the Semi final, if this was the penalty they played on Morocco they wouldn't have been here.

[Agbam]

The super eagles are not that great with penalty shootouts, even though it's about luck it is mostly about skills and precision a lot of times...it is obvious that something is different between the way they played against morroco and how they played against Egypt, the coach must have structured things differently...it is always a good thing to learn from your past mistakes and become better

The highlight of Supet eagles shootout tonight is that they learnt from the mistakes made against Morocco and used that as an edge against Egypt. Nwabali also contributed greatly to this victory. Saving two penalties from Salah and Marmoosh gave the team their advantage. I also saw how nervous Iwobi was while playing his turn but his ability to put the ball through made him even more happier and confident in himself.

Stanley as proud and as overconfident as he can be is still the best defense line of the Super Eagles, it it’s just by his efforts the super Eagles should be at the finals and at the World Cup but his teammates let him down by not utilising the opportunity he gives them.

Now for the past bad records, it’s not about the coaches or the players, it’s about the NFF. They are the doom upon the Super Eagles and Nigerians. If it’s not payment issues it’s their bad politicking. Jose Peseiro was good but they couldn’t pay him or negotiate well and let him go then hired incompetent ex-player who put us in this mess neglecting others better than him.

Now we’ve seen that Eric Chelle can do good, what he needs now is proper motivation and improvement. Hope they don’t start owing him and looking for ways to make him leave. We need stability in the coaching department as well as the players.
Though competitions are far away from us but let’s work on building a good system.

[Wakate]

I’ll say the Super Eagles have finally found their feet again after many years. At last, they now have a solid team and a coach that understands the players and knows how to set them up. You can see the togetherness, the discipline, and the belief in the way they play. It feels like the team is now moving in the right direction.

The super eagles is being praised for what I don't really know. They promised us the AFCON medal and it is unfortunately that we could no see them winning but coming up with a third position. I don't know why everytime there is always a problem with the super eagles not meeting up with undesirable positions with plenty of excuses each year.

[Majestic-milf]

Nigeria won the third-place match on penalties, but they deserved to win anyway. Nigeria scored in the first half, but VAR intervened and disallowed the goal due to a foul. I don't think the player who scored committed a foul. In Onuachu's situation, the defender made it seem like there was a foul. VAR ruled it a foul, and the goal was disallowed. Nigeria played a superior game.

They finished third in the AFCON, even if it was on penalties.

Whenever I watch Salah take penalties, he always misses. If I were the coach, I wouldn't give him a penalty.

I don't know if there will be another bonus crisis after Nigeria's third-place finish, because bonus crises have become a part of the Nigerian national team.

For me, Nigeria was the best team in this tournament, and even though they couldn't make it to the finals, at least they were the winners of the third place. Nigeria were able to play all the games without a loss and for me that's a very impressive record for them. For me, if they had played Morocco the same way they did to Egypt,  I bet you it would have been hell for the hosts but with all the issues surrounding the game, they(Super Eagles) were just robbed of a good game and they didn't make it worse by giving the opposing players red card.

[KTChampions]

Senegal vs Morocco final match is today, I known many fans will like to support Senegal to defeat Morocco in this match because they know how Morocco struggle to escape from the hands of super eagle to qualified for final stage that is about to take place today, but I don't think this match will end up penalty shootout because Senegal have more experience players than Morocco unless Morocco takes advantage of refere to defeat Senegal to win the title, but if the referee is a truthful referee in this final stage Senegal will defeat Morocco 2-0 to achieve the title from Morocco because they have talented players in this season.

I wonder why you're so confident in your assessment, bookmakers assess everything the other way around:

3.70 - 2.56 - 2.22

Morocco are clear favourites, although the outcome of the game in regulation time is not guaranteed. If we look at the final odds for the title, everything is more obvious: Senegal is quoted at 2.28, and Morocco at 1.57. Interestingly, bookmakers are expecting a close game, with a goalless draw being offered at odds of 5.40. This will likely be a game similar to the third-place playoff.

[Kelward]

I’ll say the Super Eagles have finally found their feet again after many years. At last, they now have a solid team and a coach that understands the players and knows how to set them up. You can see the togetherness, the discipline, and the belief in the way they play. It feels like the team is now moving in the right direction.

The super eagles is being praised for what I don't really know. They promised us the AFCON medal and it is unfortunately that we could no see them winning but coming up with a third position. I don't know why everytime there is always a problem with the super eagles not meeting up with undesirable positions with plenty of excuses each year.

I think the the super eagles have done well in this AFCON tournament and they deserve to be given a thumbs up, although they didn't reach the final but winning the third place is not easy. They have found their rhythm in this AFCON and I believe that from here on their future matches will be more coordinated because they understand themselves better. Everybody likes success and that is why we are celebrating our eagles despite not giving us gold, if they had fumbled and were eliminated in the first round we definitely won't be cheering for them now.

[Stepstowealth]

In the last African Cup of Nations, the Super Eagles did not perform poorly, they had a very good performance also, very good defensively under Poseiro until the finals where we lost to Ivory Coast. To back up my claim, you will remember that people also complained a lot when we discovered that he was still sacked. The Super Eagles have always had quality players, what has just been lacking was a coach, and then the NFF making a stable choice of keeping the coach for a long period of time. Eric has done well on the job, he deserves to be retained.

They got to the finals alright but, it was hardly because they performed so well, at least not as good as this season and yet, they didn’t get to the finals this season while, they did in the previous. In the last AFCON, I had a problem with Osimhen, his inability to finish the chances created was a huge problem and the Super Eagles didn’t play much as a team. It took just one man, Sebastian Haller to deliver the damaging blow like a striker should. Most of that seems to have being rectified in this tournament and the team was very much put together.

The current Super Eagles team is a team to keep together and the National Football Federation has to work in lights to ensure that these footballers are kept comfortable to continue playing for the national team because they've signaled a new birth for the Super Eagles team under the Eric Chelle. There is better hope that we will be able to dominate African football again and become a football powerhouse in the world as we once were.

I have shifted my attention to the finals, It is going to be historic if Morocco can host and win the AFCON, Senegal stands firmly on their way.

[Adbitco]

Congratulations Nigeria! With the way Nigeria performed in the AFCON tournament, we deserve to go home with silverware, no matter if it’s a bronze. I think poetic that we won the bronze in a penalty shootout considering how we have fared in penalties in recent times.

Congratulations to the Super Eagles, the last time second, this time it's third, even though it's a decline at least it's still something. The good thing about this super eagles is that, this is the most beautiful I have seen the super eagles since after 2013 that they were incredible and also won the trophy. Since after that period, the super eagles has been shit in playing football but this time around it changed as they were so good in the tournament. There display alone is my major consolation as to them not winning the trophy. Anyways congratulations to them, if the Nigerian team continue to play like this, soonner or later they will dominate African football.

[Unsoldier]

I’ve found some interesting information about Africa Cup of Nations finals.

Africa Cup of Nations Final Results (2000-2023):
2000: Cameroon 2:2 Nigeria (4:3 pens)
2002: Cameroon 0:0 Senegal (3:2 pens)
2004: Tunisia 2:1 Morocco
2006: Egypt 0:0 Cote d'Ivoire (4:2 pens)
2008: Egypt 1:0 Cameroon
2010: Egypt 1:0 Ghana
2012: Zambia 0:0 Cote d'Ivoire (8:7 pens)
2013: Nigeria 1:0 Burkina Faso
2015: Cote d'Ivoire 0:0 Ghana (9:8 pens)
2017: Cameroon 2:1 Egypt
2019: Algeria 1:0 Senegal
2021: Senegal 0:0 Egypt (4:2 pens)
2023: Cote d'Ivoire 2:1 Nigeria

Over the last 25 years, there have been 12 AFCON finals, and only three of them (25%) went over 1.5 goals. Finals are often very tight and cautious — five of those matches even went to extra time. I find it hard to believe that the upcoming final between Morocco and Senegal will be a high-scoring game. Both teams are likely to play it safe and focus on defence, so an under 1.5 goals bet looks reasonable to me for this final as well.

[abaeze]

Congratulations Nigeria! With the way Nigeria performed in the AFCON tournament, we deserve to go home with silverware, no matter if it’s a bronze. I think poetic that we won the bronze in a penalty shootout considering how we have fared in penalties in recent times.

Congratulations to the Super Eagles, the last time second, this time it's third, even though it's a decline at least it's still something. The good thing about this super eagles is that, this is the most beautiful I have seen the super eagles since after 2013 that they were incredible and also won the trophy. Since after that period, the super eagles has been shit in playing football but this time around it changed as they were so good in the tournament. There display alone is my major consolation as to them not winning the trophy. Anyways congratulations to them, if the Nigerian team continue to play like this, soonner or later they will dominate African football.

All victories are honours, be it bronze or gold, this match was tough especially when Super11 fought hard against tough opponents and defeated Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shootout despite not playing on the field. Stanley Nowbali’s brilliant save secured the victory. His brilliant save in the shootout after a goalless regular time saved the team from a deadlock. This is Nigeria’s ninth bronze medal in AFCON history and what is most remarkable is that when they played the play-off for third place, Super Eagles were undefeated in all their previous matches.

However, if Super Eagles can continue their performance, they could become the strongest football team on the African continent in the future.

[Agbamoni]

Senegal vs Morocco final match is today, I known many fans will like to support Senegal to defeat Morocco in this match because they know how Morocco struggle to escape from the hands of super eagle to qualified for final stage that is about to take place today, but I don't think this match will end up penalty shootout because Senegal have more experience players than Morocco unless Morocco takes advantage of refere to defeat Senegal to win the title, but if the referee is a truthful referee in this final stage Senegal will defeat Morocco 2-0 to achieve the title from Morocco because they have talented players in this season.

Who wouldn't want to support their West African brothers, the same way Egypt and Algeria are supporting Morocco in the final today?

For me, I would love the best team to win today. Also, I want Sadio Mane to win the AFCON. He has single handedly, eliminate the Pharaohs during the semi-final. I know he can do the same today. Morocco is the host country; I do not want them to win it. I want them to witness a moment of pain in this AFCON competition.

[Fiatless]

Nigeria won the third-place match on penalties, but they deserved to win anyway. Nigeria scored in the first half, but VAR intervened and disallowed the goal due to a foul. I don't think the player who scored committed a foul. In Onuachu's situation, the defender made it seem like there was a foul. VAR ruled it a foul, and the goal was disallowed. Nigeria played a superior game.

They finished third in the AFCON, even if it was on penalties.

Whenever I watch Salah take penalties, he always misses. If I were the coach, I wouldn't give him a penalty.

Every Nigerian is happy with the Super Eagles. They showed that they are still one of the best sides in Africa. The loss to Morocco was unfortunate but we are pleased that the team fought till the end of the game. Penalty is a game of luck, and the Nigerian team was not fortunate.

Mohammed Salah played a good penalty, unfortunately Stanley Nwabali dived to the right direction. But I must also say that the Liverpool player's impact was not felt in that game.

I don't know if there will be another bonus crisis after Nigeria's third-place finish, because bonus crises have become a part of the Nigerian national team.

You might hear about the bonus in another competition. The Nigerian Football Federation might not pay their allowances for this game. Maybe the players will protest in another competition. I could also be that they have been given all the benefits due to them.

[Chinesebaby]

Over the last 25 years, there have been 12 AFCON finals, and only three of them (25%) went over 1.5 goals. Finals are often very tight and cautious — five of those matches even went to extra time. I find it hard to believe that the upcoming final between Morocco and Senegal will be a high-scoring game. Both teams are likely to play it safe and focus on defence, so an under 1.5 goals bet looks reasonable to me for this final as well.

Both Senegal and Morocco are very tough teams that knows how to play fast and good football, but judging from Morocco's performance against Nigeria, and that of Senegal against Egypt few days ago, I also agree to the fact that today's final match is likely to end goal-less or at least not more than 2 goals. And Morocco been the host country has a greater chance of winning tonights final game, because they do have home advantage, since almost 90% of fans that will be in the stadium tonight will all be Moroccans, since they are the host country, and a few Senegalese to cheer them up, which is one thing that usually motivates players when playing a tough game like tonight. So however, let's watch out what the outcome will be, but I'm 70% sure Morocco will win tonight's AFCON final match.