Nigeria’s Super Eagles will step into Saturday’s bronze-medal clash at AFCON 2025 with history firmly on their side. No team has been more dominant in third-place play-offs, and the Eagles boast a perfect record, having contested seven such matches and won all seven.
Their first taste of the fixture came in 1978, when they were awarded a 2–0 victory after Tunisia walked off in protest. Fourteen years later, they defeated Cameroon 2–1 in Dakar to claim another bronze. Between 2002 and 2006, Nigeria became a fixture in the third-place game, contesting three in a row and defeating Mali twice and Senegal once. In 2010, Victor Obinna’s 58th-minute strike secured a 1–0 win over Algeria in Benguela. Most recently, in 2019, Odion Ighalo’s early goal was enough to beat Tunisia 1–0 in Cairo.
Remarkably, Nigeria have officially finished third eight times in AFCON history, including 1976 when the tournament format used a second group stage. Four of their seven third-place victories have come by 1–0 scorelines, and six of the seven have been decided by a single goal.
None have ever gone to penalties, underlining the Eagles’ knack for edging tight contests in regulation time.
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As they prepare to face Egypt in Casablanca, Nigeria are chasing a ninth bronze medal in nine appearances, determined to extend their flawless record and reinforce their reputation as Africa’s masters of the third-place playoff.
