The Super Eagles of Nigeria have defeated Egypt’s Pharaohs 4–2 on penalties to secure the third-place position at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The third-place playoff, played on Saturday at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, ended goalless after regulation time, with both sides cancelling each other out in a tightly contested encounter.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, emerged the hero of the shootout, saving spot-kicks from Egyptian stars Mohamed Salah and Oumar Marmoush to hand the Eagles victory and their ninth AFCON bronze medal.
Interim coach named a rotated squad, resting key players Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman on the bench at kickoff.
Nigeria started the match on the front foot and came close in the 13th minute, but Akor Adams’ effort was deflected wide.
A header by Adams later in the first half was ruled out after a VAR review, while a second-half strike by Lookman was also disallowed for offside, as both teams struggled to find a breakthrough.
With no goals after 90 minutes, the match went straight to penalties.
Despite Nigeria missing their first kick, Nwabali’s saves swung the momentum in favour of the Super Eagles, before Ademola Lookman calmly converted the winning penalty.
Nigeria had reached the playoff after losing to hosts Morocco in the semi-finals, while Egypt were edged out by Senegal.
The victory brings consolation to the Super Eagles after narrowly missing out on a place in the final and further underlines Nigeria’s strong record in AFCON third-place matches.