AFCON Round of the 16: Nigeria Vs Mozambique
Written by Chukwu C. Ikechukwu
The 2025 African Cup, which started in late December in Morocco, has entered the knockout stages with all 16 teams already paired against their opponents. Bookmakers are already predicting the possible last 8 that would emerge after January 6th, when the last two matches of the round will be played.
Already, precisely since the 3rd of January, to date, 4 matches have been decided, with four teams knocked out and the other four progressing to the quarter finals.
The Malian team, after knocking out the Tunisian side 3-2 on penalties, proceeded to the last eight without winning a single match within 90 minutes. Senegal proved bookmakers right with a 3-1 defeat of Sudan. The host Morocco scaled through with a 1-0 victory against Tanzania. While Cameroon edged out South Africa 2-1, South Africa’s late-minute consolation goal was not enough to turn the tide.
With the matches decided, Mali and Senegal will square it out for a place in the last four, while host Morocco will take on Cameroon.
The next matches for the 5th of January will be between Egypt and the Benin Republic. The other will be the Nigerian Super Eagles against the Mambas of Mozambique.
The Nigerian team had a superlative first round game, starting with a 2-1 beating of Tanzania, followed by an emphatic victory over Tunisia, who had a late comeback by pulling back 2 goals to reduce the 3-0 bashing to 3-2 by full time. Though already qualified for the round of 16 and the majority of the 1st 11 watching from the bench, the last group game against Uganda was approached by the Super Eagles with all the seriousness a cup final deserves. The result was a 3-1 bashing of the Cranes, thereby denying them the chance of progression into the round of 16.
With 9 points, 8 goals and 4 conceded from the 1st round, the Super Eagles, who topped Group C, will be challenged by the Mambas of Mozambique, who managed to scrape into the knockout stage having finished as one of the best 3rd placed teams in the 2025 AFCON first round groups A-F.
The Mambas of Mozambique opened their AFCON campaign with a 0-1 loss to the current cup holders Ivory Coast/Côte d’Ivoire. This was followed by their 3-2 win over Gabon, a win that has gone into the history books as their first AFCON win, perhaps their last for now. The win came after a 39-year wait to taste an AFCON match win. Their last match was against the Cameroonian side, which expectedly ended in defeat for the Mambas. However, their 3-2 win against Gabon was enough to give them an edge over Angola, who placed 3rd in group B.
Against the star-studded Nigerian team, the Mambas stand no chance, as the Super Eagles will be characterised by the Eagle taking the Mambas above ground level, where its venomous strength and bite would become ineffective, before leaving the powerless reptile to come crashing fatally to the ground, thus exiting the AFCON. However, a loss to the Nigerian side may not be embarrassing to the Mambas, no matter the goal deficit they will suffer, as Mambas, though poisonous, are no match for the Eagles, both as a bird against a reptile and now as a football team against the world-class, star-studded Super Eagles with players in top leagues in Europe.
Nonetheless, the Mambas and indeed the whole nation of Mozambique, in spite of not standing a chance against the Super Eagles, would be hoping to spring a few surprises as they engage the Nigerian side on Monday, the 5th of January.
To motivate the team, the Mozambique President has promised each Mambas player an equivalent of ₦11.3m if they defeat Nigeria to progress into the quarter finals. The desire to become richer, some national pride, and an attempt to prove bookmakers wrong may push the guys from the small Portuguese-speaking African country in Southern Africa to come out strong and determined against the star-studded Nigerian side.
It is this that the Eric Chelle-led Super Eagles must watch out for and avoid complacency—after all, there are no more underdogs in African football. Though the books favour the Super Eagles, we have not lost a match to the Mambas in the previous 5 engagements, with the best result for the Mozambique team being a draw against Nigeria. But the Eagles must avoid a repetition of history, as the last time the Eagles got all points from the AFCON Group stage in 2019, the then Austin Eguavoen side failed to progress beyond the round of 16. Hence, Eric Chelle and his side must approach the match as though it is a World Cup final against any of the world champions and not the Mambas from Mozambique.
The Super Eagles must have their eyes on the coveted trophy, as winning the trophy would be the perfect consolation for missing out on the World Cup holding later this year in Canada, Mexico and the United States. And from all of us at Media Room Africa, it is “go Eagles, soar high above the sky, pick the Mambas from the ground, don’t fight at their level, take them to the sky where they will be powerless and let them crash fatally out of AFCON 2025.”
