Nigeria are looking to pick up where they left off after kicking off their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 2-1 win against Tanzania.
The Super Eagles are set to lock horns with Tunisia on Saturday. They head into the contest second in Group C, trailing on goal difference after Tunisia’s 3-1 win against Uganda.
Match Preview
Nigeria’s narrow win against Tanzania was too close for comfort, although the final result didn’t fully reflect their dominance for the majority of the game.
Eric Chelle’s side enjoyed most of the ball and created plenty of openings, taking 21 shots in total, with eight on target. However, the Super Eagles were far from clinical, spurning four big chances.
It took Nigeria over half an hour to finally break the deadlock when Semi Ajayi powered home a corner from Alex Iwobi.
Tanzania responded just five minutes into the second half, drawing level through Charles M’Mombwa.
However, they only had a couple of minutes to revel in the moment as Nigeria restored their lead almost immediately, with Ademola Lookman rifling home a ferocious left-footed effort.
That win helped Nigeria regain confidence after back-to-back setbacks.
Their 2026 FIFA World Cup hopes went up in flames after losing on penalties to DR Congo in the African confederation play-off final. That was before losing 2-0 to Egypt in a friendly fixture.
Tunisia appear to be finding their rhythm again at AFCON after a difficult spell in the group stages of recent tournaments.
Their latest win ended a four-match run without victory (D2, L2), and the supporters will hope the comprehensive win against Uganda marks a much-needed turning point.
The Carthage Eagles only needed ten minutes to take the lead through Ellyes Skhiri. Elias Achouri then bagged a brace, scoring once in each half to put the result beyond doubt.
Denis Omendi scored late to hand Uganda a consolation, but the win for Tunisia means they’ve already picked up more points than they managed in the previous AFCON edition (two).
Tunisia are now on a three-match winning streak and will fancy their chances of picking Nigeria apart after claiming a 1-0 quarter-final win when the two sides last met.
Nigeria AFCON form
W
Tunisia AFCON form
W
Team News
Nigeria came through their curtain-raiser without any injury concerns, so Chelle will stick to the same line-up against Tunisia.
Saturday’s opponents have also reported a clean bill of health. Manager Sami Trabelsi should also have no reason to alter his approach.
Nigeria potential starting line-up:
(4-4-2): Stanley Nwabali; Zaidu Sanusi, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel; Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, Ademola Lookman; Victor Osimhen, Akor Adams.
Tunisia potential starting line-up:
(4-3-3): Aymen Dahmen; Yan Valery, Dylan Bronn, Montassar Talbi, Ali Abdi; Ferjani Sassi, Ellyes Skhiri, Hannibal Mejbri; Elias Achouri, Hazem Mastouri, Elias Saad.
Match Prediction
Nigeria have won six of their last nine games (D1, L2), although they’ve failed to step up when it really mattered a couple of times during that run.
However, Nigeria and Tunisia have a head-to-head record that makes it difficult to separate the two sides.
They’ve squared off six times in all competitions, and both sides have picked up a win each while settling for a share of the spoils across the other four games.
Having started this campaign with a win apiece, it wouldn’t be surprising if neither side came out on top on Saturday.
Nigeria 2-2 Tunisia.
