Nigeria will face Egypt in the third place play-off match after both nations suffered disappointing defeats in their semifinal encounters at the 2025 African Cup of Nations tournament.
Ayomide Oguntimehin provides the detailed preview and betting tips for the January 17 clash at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.
Egypt vs Nigeria Match Preview
Egypt suffered a 1-0 defeat to Senegal in their semifinal clash at the Grand Stade de Tangier, condemning them to the bronze medal match. The Egyptians produced a resilient defensive performance for majority of that encounter, but Sadio Maneβs goal 12 minutes from full-time gave Senegal the victory.
The Pharaohs have enjoyed a decent tournament and that was their first defeat after six matches. They are yet to keep a clean sheet in the knockout rounds, which is quite alarming despite their brilliant defensive organization.
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Sadio ManΓ© does it for Senegal. They’re into the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 final. pic.twitter.com/vrhO60JBk9
β TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 15, 2026
Nigeria, meanwhile, suffered another penalty shootout heartbreak, this time to host nations Morocco in their semifinal encounter after goalless 120 minutes of action. It was their second penalty defeat in three months, following the CAF playoffs final loss to the Democratic Republic of Congo which ended their hopes of reaching the FIFA World Cup later this year.
The Super Eagles also failed to score for the first time at the tournament after scoring 14 in their previous five matches, although they remain unbeaten in normal time since Eric Chelle took over.
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Egypt vs Nigeria Head-to-Head record
(Last five meetings)
- 16.12.2025 – Egypt 2-1 Nigeria
- 11.01.2022 – Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
- 26.03.2019 – Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
- 29.03.2016 – Egypt 1-0 Nigeria
- 25.03.2016 – Nigeria 1-1 Egypt
The last five meetings between both teams have been evenly balanced with two wins apiece and a draw.
However, Egypt were 2-1 winners in their most recent meeting ahead of the commencement of the AFCON tournament.
Recent Form: Egypt
Egypt suffered their first defeat of the 2025 AFCON tournament in Morocco against Senegal in their semifinal clash, ending a run of five matches without a loss
The Pharaohs have not kept a clean sheet in their three knockout matches so far, while they have kept just two throughout the course of the tournament.
Recent Form: Nigeria
Nigeria suffered an agonizing penalty shootout defeat to Morocco in their own last four clash, ending their 100% record at the tournament. They previously won all their five matches and scored 14 goals, just two behind Ivory Coastβs all-time AFCON record.
The Super Eagles still remain unbeaten in regular time at the tournament and kept their third consecutive clean sheet of the tournament, having failed to keep any during the group stages.
AFCON 2025: Morocco edge Nigeria on penalties to reach home final
Player to Watch: Victor Osimhen
The Galatasaray striker was largely anonymous during Nigeriaβs semifinal defeat to Morocco with only a few half chances to pounce on.
However, with Rashidi Yekiniβs all-time record in sight, Victor Osimhen will be very motivated and could prove too much to handle for Egypt.
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Best betting odds
Away (Nigeria) to Win – 2.35 (via 1xBet)
Prediction
Nigeria will draw motivation from their disappointing loss to Morocco and possess enough attacking quality to trouble Egypt and secure victory.
