Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Osimhen, Adams score as Nigeria beat Algeria to reach AFCON semifinals

Nigeria will face host nation Morocco on Wednesday for a place in the tournament final.

• January 10, 2026
Osimhen and Adams on the field
Osimhen and Adams [Credit: FotMob]

Nigeria’s Super Eagles are through to the semifinals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), following a dominant 2-0 win over the Desert Warriors of Algeria at the Marrakech Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Eagles immediately asserted their dominance as the referee’s whistle kicked off the match, as they launched intensive attacking threats to grab the lead.

The first clearest chance for Nigeria came just before the half-hour mark when Akor Adams went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the Sevilla forward’s effort narrowly went off target.

Nigeria finally broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half through Victor Osimhen, who jumped past several Algerian defenders to head a cross by Bruno Onyemaechi into the net.

It was the Galatasaray forward’s fourth goal in the tournament.

In the 57th minute, the Eagles doubled their advantage through great team play, started by Alex Iwobi’s pass to Osimhen, who drove the ball into the box before laying a clean pass to Adams, who dribbled past goalkeeper Luca Zidane before putting the ball into an open net.

The Algerians launched late pressure to come back into the match, but the discipline in the Nigerian defence ensured the Eagles saw off the lead to book their place in the last four of the tournament.

Nigeria will face host nation Morocco on Wednesday for a place in the tournament final. 

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