Nigeria coach Eric Chelle says his outfit will deliver a great performance in order to secure the bronze medal at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Super Eagles’ title ambition hopes dashed on Wednesday after succumbing to a penalty shootouts defeat to Morocco after a pulsating goalless draw in both regular and extra-time.
The West African football heavyweights will now battle it out with Egypt in the third-place match, scheduled for Saturday, January 17, 2026 at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.
“As for the Egyptian national team, they are a team with great potential in terms of morale and solidarity, and they have some individual players who can make a difference in the transition from defense to attack and vice versa. It’s good to face a team like this.”
“We want to put on a great performance and return to Nigeria in third place. I tried to take my team as far as possible in the tournament, and to make the team play according to my philosophy, and indeed we succeeded in that until the semi-finals, but we lacked tactical and physical aspects in the semi-finals.”
“We will play against Egypt and we must win the match. It is not logical to participate in a tournament of this quality and not return with a medal.”
“The match against Egypt for third place is important to me because we showed great things in the tournament, and winning third place will crown our efforts and be a positive thing.”
The Super Eagles have finished third 8 times in the history of the African Cup of Nations, while the Egyptian national team has won the bronze medal 3 times.
The two teams had previously met in the third-place match of the 1976 tournament, which was won by the Moroccan team.
