Super Eagles to last 16 points

Nigeria has progressed to the last 16 of the African Cup of Nations as they won a thrilling encounter with Tunisia 3-2 in Fes.

The Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup was in stark contrast to Tunisia’s fortunes, which made it to the North American finals without conceding a goal.

Yet the Group C clash of two traditional African heavyweights produced an engrossing, goal-filled game that saw Nigeria look in complete control after Victor Oświęcim, Wilfried Ndidi and the excellent Ademola Luqman gave them a 3-0 lead.

Tunisia showed great resilience, however, with Montasar Talbi pulling one back before Ali Abdi’s penalty set the stage for a grandstand finale, only to hold off Nigeria to make it six points from two games.

Nigeria takes command

Nigeria were the better team in the first half, although Oświęcim’s looseness was a letdown for the Super Eagles early on.

He only headed home from Akor Adams’ right-wing cross before missing a more difficult chance with another header off target.

Oświęcim put the ball in the net in the 18th minute, but only after an obvious offside deflection as Nigeria struggled to repay their superiority.

Tunisia looked increasingly into the game as the half wore on but fell behind in the 44th minute when Ademola Luqman’s superb cross from the left was met with a deserved finish by Oświęcim, whose far post header proved too much for Aymen Damen.

Damen was beaten again five minutes into the second half, Ndidi rising to meet Luqman’s outstanding corner pass to double the Super Eagles’ advantage.

The game looked beyond doubt when Oświęcim broke down the right and played the ball back to Lukman, who showed great patience and composure to get past a defender before unleashing a close-range shot that Damen could only deflect off the post.

The return to Tunisia did not succeed

Yet Tunisia found life after trailing 3-0 and Talbi gave them hope of a remarkable comeback in the 74th minute.

The Lorient defender met Hannibal Mabry’s free-kick with a powerful header into the bottom right corner and Nigeria’s nerves were on edge three minutes from time.

Bright Osai-Samuel was hit on the arm by a ball in the penalty area as he tackled a striker and, after being sent to the pitchside monitor, referee Bubu Traore pointed to the spot.

Ali Abdi made no mistake with an emphatic penalty but Tunisia could not make the most of seven extra minutes, Ferjani Sassi twice going agonizingly close as Nigeria clung to progress.