After World Cup Struggles, Did Nigeria Redeem Themselves at AFCON 2025?

After much debate around Nigeria pre-tournament and during African Cup of Nations 2025, it looked like it might end perfectly.

Ahead of Nigeria’s semi-final against hosts Morocco, they were AFCON top scorers. But that match proved one step too far, with coach Eric Chelle’s decision to change tactics joining a long list of controversial decisions.

Nigeria fans still have a chance to make predictions about their team and bet online, with a bronze-final (or third place playoff) awaiting Chelle’s team. But did they redeem themselves after missing out on World Cup 2026?

Nigeria are traditionally one of African football’s powerhouses, so their failure to qualify for the World Cup made headlines around the world. Despite a talented squad including Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman, and Victor Osimhen, Nigeria lost to DR Congo in the World Cup Qualification CAF Final Stage.

That was after finishing second in a group with South Africa, Benin, Lesotho, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe, and then beating Gabon in the semi-final before meeting DR Congo.

Nigeria started perfectly against DR Congo, with Frank Onyeka scoring in the third minute. But Meschack Elia equalised half an hour later, and DR Congo eventually qualified for the World Cup on penalties.

It was too many draws that proved costly for Nigeria in the main qualifying stage. The two 1-1 draws with South Africa weren’t terrible results, but they also drew with Lesotho and Zimbabwe (twice). Nigeria failed to keep a clean sheet in their first four qualifying games and finished one point behind South Africa.

In the shootout against DR Congo, Calvin Bassey hit high and over the bar, before Moses Sion and Semi Ajayi failed to beat the goalkeeper.

Chelle then accused a member of the DR Congo staff of “voodoo” during the penalties. One reporter described his comments as “surreal”.

That wasn’t the only controversial moment. Only two days before the match against Gabon, Nigeria players and staff boycotted training amid disputes over lack of payments.

Nigeria should arguably never have put themselves in a position to play Gabon. They were favourites, ahead of South Africa, to progress automatically from the group. They struggled whenever Osimhem wasn’t playing.

They were disrupted by manager Jose Peseiro leaving in November 2023. Nigeria legend Finidi George took the reins, but only lasted two matches (one of them a 2-1 loss to Benin).

Augustine Eguavoen led the team through AFCON 2025 qualification, before the World Cup qualification campaign resumed, and Chelle was appointed in January 2025.

Chelle couldn’t lead Nigeria to the World Cup, but did the squad redeem themselves with victories at AFCON 2025?

Nigeria started well, with Lookman scoring a winner against Tunisia to put Nigeria on course for the knockouts. They won their next two group matches, too, beating Tunisia and Uganda. Nigeria then had a favourable draw, meeting Mozambique in the round of 16. Lookman starred in that match, assisting two and scoring another. Chelle’s front three, in a 4-4-2 diamond shape, all looked on form. They kept up the scoring in a 2-0 victory over Algeria in the semi-finals.

Then it got more difficult. Morocco had the tournament’s best defence going into the semi-finals. But Chelle’s Nigeria had the best attack, and it seemed like the manager would maintain his front-foot approach.

But Chelle told reporters before the game that Morocco struggled more when facing a low block, and was preparing to set his team up to play more defensively.

The change in approach worked to a degree, with Nigeria holding Morocco to a 0-0 draw in regular time, and then extra time. But Nigeria looked relatively toothless in attack after their free-scoring tournament up to that point, and the hosts progressed on penalties, winning 4-2.

It was far from the prettiest game, with Nigeria showing little of the creativity and freedom they enjoyed in previous rounds. In the 4-0 win over Mozambique, for example, each of the front three had scored at least one. Osimhen was rested after 68 minutes, and it looked like Nigeria were on course for an AFCON trophy to add to their collection. But it wasn’t to be.

Chelle had named a 54-man provisional squad just two weeks before AFCON 2025 kicked off. Most fans saw it as unnecessary, and the unconventional decision might have disrupted Nigeria.

Chelle would likely argue that that wasn’t the case and point to the faultless group stage. He seemed to be getting everything right once the tournament was underway—the formation was working, his key players were on form, and the team were proving far more clinical than they had in World Cup qualification—and Nigeria didn’t seem concerned about reports linking Chelle with Tunisia and Angola.

Ahead of the bronze-final against Egypt, Chelle said he was still Nigeria coach “for now”. He said he wanted to win the game. Whether Nigeria’s tournament was enough to redeem their World Cup qualification campaign is up for debate. Fans will certainly want to see more showings like those against Mozambique and Algeria, and fewer matches like the draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.