Nigeria beat off a late fightback from Tunisia to make it to the final 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco.
With 17 minutes left in the Group C match at Fes, the Super Eagles were ahead 3-0 thanks to goals from Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi, and Ademola Lookman. However, Montassar Talbi’s header from a Hannibal Mejbri free-kick brought the North Africans back into the game.
After a video assistance referee (VAR) review, Tunisia was handed a late penalty for a handball by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi scored in the 87th minute to make the end of the game very exciting.
The Carthage Eagles almost tied the game in stoppage time when captain Ferjani Sassi’s header went just wide, and Ismael Gharbi still had time to fumble a volley beyond the post.
With this win, Nigeria, who has won the Afcon three times, moves up to six points and is assured to finish first in Group C with one game left. In the following round, they will play a team that finished third in Group A, B, or F.
Tunisia still has three points, but Uganda and Tanzania both have one point after their East African rivals drew 1-1 earlier on Saturday.
The Super Eagles are still in Fes, where they will play Uganda on Tuesday at 16:00 GMT. At the same time, Tunisia will go back to Rabat to play Tanzania.
Nigeria, which came in second in Afcon in 2023, joins Egypt as the second team to make it to the knockout stage. However, both coach Eric Chelle and their fans will be relieved that what looked like a comfortable last 15 minutes transformed into a tense finish.
Tunisia easily beat Uganda in their first game in Morocco, while Nigeria barely beat Tanzania in a tough match.
Before the Super Eagles striker scored, Osimhen had a goal called out for offside. He skillfully guided a header between two Tunisian defenders and into the bottom-right corner from Lookman’s tempting left-wing cross just before halftime.
Ndidi scored his first international goal at the perfect time for the Super Eagles to increase their lead early in the second half. He rose highest to head in a corner from Lookman.
Osimhen set up Lookman, a former England youth international, for the third goal, but Talbi’s header went past Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to cut the lead.
Tunisia got a break after a looping cross hit Osayi-Samuel’s forearm. Malian referee Boubou Traore gave them a penalty kick after VAR sent him to the pitchside monitor.
Abdi scored, but the 2004 champs couldn’t make a dramatic comeback.
Tunisia is still in a good position to join the West Africans in the next round. A draw against Tanzania will be enough to move on, and their coach Sami Trabelsi will want to prevent a repetition of the 2013 Afcon, when he had to leave as coach after the group stage.
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