Rabat—Nigeria and Egypt will meet once again on the AFCON stage on Saturday, with pride and a bronze medal on the line in the Morocco 2025 third-place play-off.
Both sides arrive at the Stade Mohammed V after painful semi-final exits, but history suggests neither nation takes this match lightly. Nigeria are chasing a record ninth AFCON bronze medal, and Egypt are looking to add a fourth third-place finish to their decorated continental history.
Few rivalries in African football hit quite as hard as this one. They are about to face off for the 10th time at the AFCON and for the 20th time overall. Nigeria currently has a slight edge in their head-to-head record, but matches between these teams are anything but predictable.
Most of those matchups have been in the group stage. The only time they played in a knockout game—the 1984 semi-final—they needed penalties to decide who would win. More recently, Nigeria just barely beat Egypt 1–0 during the group phase of the 2021 tournament. However, Egypt got the better of them in a friendly match back in December 2025.
Match details
- Fixture: Nigeria vs Egypt
- Competition: CAF Africa Cup of Nations—Third Place Play-off
- Venue: Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca
- Kick-off: 17:00 local time
How to Watch
Live coverage will be available on beIN Sports MENA, SuperSport, Canal+ Afrique and Arryadia TNT.
Nigeria Team News
Nigeria’s run in the tournament ended dramatically when they faced the hosts, Morocco. The match remained a deadlock through 90 minutes, ultimately going to penalties, where Morocco won. It was an uncharacteristically quiet night for Nigeria’s offense, which had been scoring freely in earlier matches.
Despite that, the Super Eagles are still considered one of the competition’s most balanced teams. They have been incredibly solid defensively during the knockout rounds, keeping clean sheets and not giving up any goals since the group stage.
Historically, this is a fixture Nigeria handles very well. They have a flawless record in the AFCON third-place play-offs, winning all seven they have participated in, though often by the narrowest of margins.
Another win would see Nigeria finish in the top three for the 17th time—more than any other country—and draw level with Egypt for the most AFCON wins overall.
Egypt Team News
Egypt arrive in Casablanca still absorbing the disappointment of a 1–0 defeat to Senegal, a result that ended a long run of semi-final success at the tournament. It was their first AFCON semi-final loss in more than two decades.
This is Egypt’s first appearance in a third-place match this century and their sixth overall. They have won three of their previous five play-offs, and historically their matches at this stage have produced goals, even if recent performances have been more cautious.
When it comes to their offense, Egypt has struggled with consistency lately. They found it difficult to create clear scoring chances against Senegal and, unlike Nigeria, have not managed to keep a clean sheet in any of their knockout round matches.
A significant amount of the team’s attacking workload still relies heavily on Mohamed Salah. He remains Egypt’s primary creative force and is currently closing in on the all-time AFCON scoring record.
- Score prediction: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt