Nigeria’s Super Eagles claimed third place at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after defeating Egypt 4–2 on penalties following a 0–0 draw in the third-place play-off at the Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali emerged the decisive figure, saving two penalties as Nigeria maintained their perfect record in AFCON bronze-medal matches and ended the tournament on a positive note.
The encounter produced no goals in regulation time, with both sides struggling to find a breakthrough despite periods of dominance. Nigeria came closest to scoring when Paul Onuachu and Ademola Lookman both found the net, only for VAR interventions to rule out their efforts for infringements in the build-up and offside respectively.
Egypt, captained by Mohamed Salah, offered limited attacking threat and failed to consistently trouble Nigeria’s backline, as the Super Eagles controlled large spells of possession without converting their superiority into goals.
With tournament regulations ruling out extra time for the third-place fixture, the match went straight to penalties. Nigeria recovered from an early miss to take control of the shootout, as Nwabali saved spot kicks from Salah and Omar Marmoush.
Successful penalties from Akor Adams, Moses Simon, Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman sealed the 4–2 shootout victory, with Lookman converting the decisive kick to confirm Nigeria’s bronze medal finish.
The result marked Nigeria’s ninth third-place finish in AFCON history, reinforcing their reputation as the tournament’s most consistent side in bronze-medal matches, while Egypt were left to rue another missed opportunity after falling short in the semi-finals.
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