The Super Eagles are on a mission to Morocco. Knocked out of the race for the 2026 World Cup by DR Congo in mid-November (1-1, 4-3 on the tabs), Nigeria clearly has the firm intention of saving its season thanks to the African Cup of Nations. Winner of their three group matches, the Nigerians followed up with a fourth success in the round of 16 this Monday. A few days after the first victory in its history at the CAN, Mozambique paid the price for the offensive power of Eric Chelle’s troops (4-0), in Fez.
From the first minutes, Nigeria attacked the opposing cages. The size to be dangerous on set pieces, the speed on the counter-attack and attackers capable of combining effectively: the Super Eagles are built to go far in the tournament. From the 25th minute, qualification for the quarter-finals seemed obvious. Ademola Lookman opened the scoring in the 20th, Victor Osimhen made the break five minutes later.
Towards a quarterfinal revenge?
Upon returning from the locker room, the former Lille striker scored one of the easiest doubles of his career. On the two goals, the Galatasaray scorer only had to push balls perfectly served by Lookman. He thus signed the 50th and 51st goals of his career for the selection. Osimhen, however, was not satisfied. Like his attacking partners, he continued to propose solutions and complain when he was forgotten, proof of his involvement.
If Akor Adams scored the fourth (77th) to complete the offensive trident festival, Chelle eased the Mozambicans’ ordeal in the 68th. The coach started Moses Simon in place of the Nigerian star. It was a question of taking care of the man in the mask, while a first real shock looms for the outgoing finalist during this edition. He will face either Algeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the quarter-finals. It’s potentially already time for revenge.
