Nigeria claimed a podium finish and a bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations after beating Egypt on penalties in the third-place play-off on Saturday.
After the two beaten AFCON 2025 semi-finalists couldn’t be separated in 90 minutes, the clash between the Pharaohs and the Super Eagles was settled by a shootout.
Nigeria went first, and missed through Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to spark painful memories of recent shootout defeats to DR Congo and Morocco.
Although, goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali proved to be the hero for the Super Eagles this time as he immediately saved successive penalties from Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush to ensure Ademola Lookman scored the winning spot-kick.
For Nigeria, they maintain their impressive record of never losing an AFCON third-place play-off, marking their ninth podium finish. But for Egypt, it’s four straight defeats in this fixture as they settle for another fourth placed finish.
Despite Hossam Hassan and Eric Chelle talking up the importance of finishing third in the pre-match press conferences , their respective team selections did not reflect that.
The Egypt boss made six changes to the side that started the semi-final loss to Senegal, while Victor Osimhen, Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman were all named on the bench for Nigeria.
A rather tepid first half livened up around ten minutes before the interval when the Super Eagles thought they had taken the lead.
Samuel Chukwueze saw a close range header saved before collecting the rebound and returning the ball back into the box where Akor Adams’ header found the back of the net, courtesy of an unsuspecting Paul Onuachu.
However, after a VAR review, the goal was disallowed as Onuachu was adjudged to have caught Egypt midfielder Hamdy Fathy in the face with his elbow.
Nigeria then had another goal ruled out, this time early in the second half as Lookman – on for Onuachu during the break – saw his header ruled out for offside against Adams.
Chances were few and far between from that moment, leaving Nwabali and Lookman to be the heroes for Nigeria in the penalty shootout.
