The Super Eagles Book Africa Cup of Nations Last 16 Place In Spite of Late Tunisia Comeback

The three-time champions weathered a dramatic comeback attempt from their opponents to advance to the last 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Morocco.

Jose Peseiro's side appeared to be cruising in their pool encounter in Fes, holding a 3-0 cushion with just 17 minutes left courtesy of strikes from their attacking trio.

Yet, Montassar Talbi pulled one back with a powerful header from a Hannibal Mejbri free-kick, igniting hopes of a turnaround.

The tension escalated when the North Africans were awarded a spot-kick after a VAR check identified a handball by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi calmly slotted home in the dying stages to create a frantic finale.

Tunisia were inches away from a stunning equalizer in stoppage time, with captain Ferjani Sassi heading a opportunity just past the post before a substitute sent a bobbling volley past the upright.

Clinching First Place

The victory means that Nigeria, champions of the tournament on three past instances, move to 6 group points and are assured first place in their pool with a match left to play.

In the next round, they will meet a third-placed team from one of the other preliminary groups.

Meanwhile, the 2004 champions stay on three group points, with the East African teams tied on one point each after registering a 1-1 stalemate earlier on Saturday.

The final group matches will see Nigeria stay in the city to take on Uganda on Tuesday, while Tunisia travel back to Rabat to face the Taifa Stars.

An Anxious Finish

The Super Eagles, runners-up in the previous edition, are the second nation after the Pharaohs to qualify for the next phase, but their manager and supporters will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.

What seemed set to be a comfortable last period morphed into a nerve-wracking conclusion.

The prolific striker had a goal ruled out for an infringement before breaking the deadlock on the stroke of the interval, precisely placing a header into the bottom corner from an Atalanta winger cross.

The advantage was extended early in the second half when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to power home a powerful nod from a set-piece kick.

The number 9 then set up Lookman for the seemingly decisive goal, before the defender to direct a header past the Nigerian shot-stopper to begin the fightback.

The key incident arrived when a looping cross hit the arm of Bright Osayi-Samuel, with referee Boubou Traore pointing to the spot after reviewing the pitchside screen.

Although Ali Abdi's confident conversion, Tunisia ultimately came up just short of pulling off a remarkable recovery.

Tunisia's destiny is still in their control; a draw against Tanzania will be enough to see them through, and their coach will be keen to avoid a recurrence of the past group-stage exit that resulted in his previous resignation.