Saturday January 10, 2026
www.thenewsdesk.ng
Nigeria’s Super Eagles made light work of Algeria to book a semi-final spot at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations with an impressive 2-0 win, on Saturday, January 10, setting up a mouthwatering clash with tournament hosts Morocco on Wednesday, January 14.
Morocco had already booked their semifinal spot a day earlier after defeating Cameroon 2–0 in Rabat, returning to the AFCON last four for the first time since 2004.
Driven by a passionate home crowd, the Atlas Lions have continued their impressive run and now sit just one win away from a historic final appearance on home soil.
Victor Osimhen opened the scoring just after half-time for the Super Eagles in Marrakesh, and then set up Akor Adams for the second goal just before the hour mark to set up a last-four showdown with hosts Morocco.
Nigeria dominated the first half in Marrakesh without scoring before getting the breakthrough within two minutes of the restart as Osimhen headed in.
The 2023 African player of the year then turned provider for the second goal just before the hour mark, setting up Akor Adams to put the Super Eagles out of sight.
Runners-up at the last AFCON two years ago in Ivory Coast, Nigeria came to Morocco still smarting from their failure to qualify for the upcoming World Cup but are dreaming of winning a fourth continental title here.
They were not intimidated by a Marrakesh crowd of 32,452 which was almost entirely given over to the Algerian cause, but the atmosphere is likely to be far more hostile for Wednesday’s semi-final in Rabat.
Algeria had beaten Nigeria en route to winning their last Cup of Nations title in Egypt in 2019 and this has been by far their best campaign at the tournament since then.
It was an impressive performance by Nigeria, who two months ago missed out on World Cup qualification, as they overwhelmed their opponents from the start at the Grand Stade de Marrakech, looking more determined, quicker around the field and stronger in the challenges, and denying their opponents a single scoring chance.
