Nigeria ended their Africa Cup of Nations campaign on a high, winning the bronze medal after a tense penalty shootout against Egypt. The match in Casablanca finished 0-0 in regular time, pushing the two teams into a dramatic tiebreaker.
The Super Eagles dominated the shootout, converting four of their penalties, while Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush faltered by missing their first two attempts. Nigeria’s substitute Ademila Lookman sealed the victory with the decisive goal.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝑰𝒘𝒐𝒃𝒊.
Nigeria Key Moments and Heroics
Earlier in the match, Akor Adams thought he had put Nigeria ahead in the 36th minute, but VAR ruled the goal out due to an elbow by Paul Onuachu on Egypt’s Hamdi Fathi. Another second-half goal by Ademila Lookman was also disallowed for offside. Despite these setbacks, Nigeria’s determination never wavered.
Goalkeeper Stanley Noubali emerged as the hero, saving critical shots from Egypt’s stars and ensuring his team’s historic ninth third-place finish at the Afcon.
“𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅,” 𝑵𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒊 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
With this win, Nigeria left the tournament with pride after earlier disappointments, including missing out on the 2026 World Cup following a penalty loss to DR Congo and a semi-final defeat to Morocco.
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