By Daily Sports Nigeria on January 17, 2026

Nigeria and Egypt renew one of the Africa Cup of Nations’ most enduring rivalries on Thursday as they clash in the third place play-off at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025.

Nigeria’s forward #09 Victor Osimhen gestures during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) round of 16 football match between Nigeria and Mozambique at the Sports Complex stadium in Fes on January 5, 2026. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

For Nigeria, the stakes are historic: a ninth AFCON bronze medal and a chance to draw level with Egypt on 64 AFCON wins, the most by any nation.

For Egypt, it is an opportunity to claim a fourth third-place finish, adding to previous successes in 1963, 1970 and 1974.

This will be the 10th AFCON meeting between the sides and the 20th overall, underlining a rivalry that has shaped AFCON history for over six decades.

PUNCH Online reports that the Super Eagles beat Algeria 2–0 in the quarter-finals but fell to hosts Morocco in the semi-finals, held 0–0 over 120 minutes before losing 4–2 on penalties

Meanwhile, the Pharaohs survived a thrilling 3–2 battle with Côte d’Ivoire in the quarters, only to be edged out 1–0 by Senegal in a tense semi-final showdown.

Played: 20

Nigeria: W8 D6 L6 | Goals: 29–24

Egypt: W6 D6 L8 | Goals: 24–29

Egypt: W2 D2 L5 | Goals: 13–12

AFCON Meetings Only

Played: 9

Nigeria: W5 D2 L2 | Goals: 12–13

Egypt: W2 D2 L5 | Goals: 13–12

Nigeria have won two of the last three AFCON-related encounters, including the 1–0 victory at AFCON 2021, but Egypt arrive having won the most recent meeting, a 2–1 friendly victory on 16 December 2025.

AFCON Encounters Through the Years

Their AFCON history began with fireworks.

1963 – Group Stage: Egypt 6–3 Nigeria
Egypt surged into a 5–0 lead in a nine-goal thriller. Mohamed Morsi Hossein and Hassan El-Shazly both scored hat-tricks as Egypt progressed and Nigeria exited.

1976 – Second Group Stage: Nigeria 3–2 Egypt
A dead-rubber match, but Nigeria finished third overall, Egypt fourth.

1980 – Group Stage: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt
Hosts Nigeria secured top spot and went on to win the title.

1984 – Semi-final: Nigeria 2–2 Egypt (Nigeria won on penalties)
Egypt surrendered a two-goal lead, with Nigeria advancing via shoot-out.

1988 – Group Stage: Nigeria 0–0 Egypt
Nigeria topped the group and eliminated Egypt.

1990 – Group Stage: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt
Egypt were eliminated as Nigeria reached the final.

1994 – Group Stage: Nigeria 0–0 Egypt
Both advanced; Nigeria went on to win the tournament.

2010 – Group Stage: Egypt 3–1 Nigeria
Egypt ended a six-match winless AFCON run against Nigeria and defended their title.

2021 – Group Stage: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt
Kelechi Iheanacho scored the winner as both sides progressed.

This will be their second AFCON meeting in Morocco, following the 1988 group-stage draw.

Third Place Play-off: Goals, Drama and History

Saturday’s encounter will be the 32nd AFCON third place play-off.

Goals scored: 87

Average goals per game: 2.85

Both teams scored: 13 of 31 matches

Penalty shoot-outs: 5 (1988, 1998, 2000, 2015, 2023)

Notable moments include:

1998: Burkina Faso 4–4 DR Congo (DR Congo won on penalties after Burkina Faso led 3–0 and 4–1)

2023: Cameroon 3–3 Burkina Faso (Cameroon won on penalties after trailing 3–0)

Biggest win: Egypt 4–0 Congo (1974)

Only 2015 and 2023 ended 0–0, both decided on penalties.

Nigeria: Kings of the Bronze Match

Nigeria arrive with a flawless third-place record.

Seven third place matches, seven wins

Eight official third-place finishes (including 1976)

No third-place match has ever gone to penalties

Six of seven wins by a single goal

Four wins by a 1–0 scoreline

They were eliminated in the semi-finals by hosts Morocco after a 0–0 draw and penalty shoot-out defeat, ending a run of 12 consecutive AFCON matches with a goal.

Source Punch Ng

Posted January 17, 2026

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