The Super Eagles deserve a pat on the back for posting a 17th podium finish at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
Despite the enormous potentials, Nigeria have underachieved on Africa’s biggest football stage with only three titles and countless near misses.
🎥 HIGHLIGHTS: 🇪🇬(2)0–0(4)🇳🇬
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 17, 2026
Nigeria finish third in the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025. pic.twitter.com/WBqprrwCxv
This AFCON was another near miss by the Super Eagles, just as it was two years ago in Cote d’Ivoire.
However, unlike the campaign in Cote d’Ivoire the Super Eagles played an attractive, attacking football that Nigeria have always been known for.
And what was most instructive is that this was coming in the wake of the team not going through to the Intercontinental 2026 World Cup Playoffs.
So, the Super Eagles were certainly not one of the favourites to win the 2025 AFCON with many commentators even predicting that they would suffer from the hangover of a disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign.
Instead, the Super Eagles again surprised many by turning on the heat in the freezing winter cold of Morocco to come within a game of reaching the tournament final for the second straight edition.
Were they unlucky not to beat the host team in the penalty shootout after both teams had failed to score even after extra time?
Samuel Chukwueze’s pathetic penalty kick and his equally poor body language gave the impression that the team as a whole were not fully prepared for the shootout.
It was the same impression one got when they crashed to DR Congo in another penalty shootout inside the same stadium in Morocco in November to determine the African team for the 2026 World Cup Intercontinental Playoffs in Mexico in March.
It has since come out in the open that the Super Eagles practiced penalties and that Chukwueze was one of their best penalty takers.
In some ways it was apt that the team had to face yet another penalty shootout against Egypt to decide the best third team of the AFCON.
Good enough they finally put to rest the curse that bedeviled them in the previous two crucial occasions to win a record ninth ‘Golden Bronze’.
The Super Eagles were not just a delight to watch, they also delivered results.
They scored the highest number of goals in Morocco – 14 – to underline their undeniable firepower.
And in the knockout rounds of the tournament, the defence, widely regarded as their Achilles Heel, did not concede a goal in regulation time.
The NFF target was to at least reach the AFCON final, but the Super Eagles failed to do so.
But in the process they gave millions of Nigerians joy and pride for three weeks as they marched on in Morocco.
Coach Eric Chelle proved he has something to offer this team. He has coped well in a difficult system, he has the dressing room going by the endorsement he received from captain Wilfred Ndidi, he has promised to freshen the team going forward and he is affordable.
He can now only build on the momentum he has achieved with his team.
On the pitch, Calvin Bassey was a Colosus in the heart of the back four, Ademola Lookman was again a class act, Victor Osimhen got among the goals, while goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was back at his reliable best after recent theatrics in the World Cup qualifiers.
The strength in depth in the squad was illustrated by the fringe players comfortable 3-1 win over Uganda as well as the victory over Egypt, the most successful team in the competition, in the classification match.
The Super Eagles have set new standards to build on when the qualifying series for the 2027 AFCON get underway in September.
Hopefully, this will be an exciting new beginning for the Super Eagles and monsieur Eric Chelle after the World Cup disasters that befell this country.
