Nigeria, Egypt lock horns in battle for AFCON bronze medals

Neither Nigeria’s Super Eagles nor the Pharaohs of Egypt will approach Saturday’s bronze-medal match of the 35th Africa Cup of Nations with a carefree attitude or in a state of absent-mindedness.

Both continental powerhouses, with 10 AFCON titles between them, arrived in the Kingdom of Morocco late last year with the determination to win another AFCON crown. However, their campaigns stuttered at the semi-final stage, with the Pharaohs upended by the Lions of Teranga in Tangier, and the Super Eagles pipped in a penalty shoot-out in Rabat.

While Egypt legend Mohamed Salah and Nigeria’s star boy Victor Osimhen continue to rue the absence of the AFCON gold medal in their collections, Saturday’s confrontation provides an opportunity for a consolation prize in African football’s flagship championship.

With a total of 14 goals in six matches and unbeaten in regulation time, the Super Eagles will feel hard done by not reaching the final. However, words of encouragement from far and near have enabled them to quickly lift their morale. The team trained on arrival in Casablanca on Thursday evening and are scheduled for official training at the Raja Oasis (training ground of top African club Raja Casablanca) on Friday evening.

Incidentally, Egypt and Nigeria have the highest tally of AFCON bronze medals, with the Super Eagles having won eight times and Egypt six times. Victory for Nigeria will put daylight between the two teams on this score, while victory for Egypt will further narrow the gap.

Remarkably, Nigeria, which has never lost an AFCON bronze-medal match, won its first bronze in 1976 at the expense of Egypt. A brace by Haruna Ilerika and an excellent strike by Mudashiru Lawal (both of blessed memory) handed Nigeria a 3–2 win in Addis Ababa.

Nigeria’s last AFCON bronze-medal success was achieved in Egypt, when Odion Ighalo’s second-minute strike was enough to pip Tunisia in Cairo.

Nigeria also won the bronze medal in 1978 (declared winner following the abandonment of the bronze-medal match by Tunisia), in 1992 (after a 2–1 defeat of Cameroon in Dakar), in 2002 (after a 1–0 defeat of hosts Mali in Mopti), in 2004 (after a 2–1 defeat of Mali in Monastir), in 2006 (after a lone-goal defeat of Senegal in Cairo) and in 2010 (after a lone-goal defeat of Algeria in Benguela).

Saturday’s encounter, slated to kick off at 5 p.m. at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca, will be the 25th clash between both countries at senior level.

For context, it will be their 10th confrontation at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Nigeria having won five of the previous nine, while two matches ended in draws (scoreless encounters in Rabat in 1988 and in Tunis six years later).

Past meetings between Nigeria and Egypt

13 Dec 1959: Nigeria 2–6 Egypt (Olympic Games qualifier: Lagos)
01 Jan 1960: Egypt 3–0 Nigeria (Olympic Games qualifier: Cairo)
29 Nov 1960: Nigeria 1–2 Egypt (Friendly: Lagos)
24 Nov 1963: Egypt 6–3 Nigeria (AFCON: Kumasi)
14 Jan 1973: Nigeria 4–2 Egypt (All-Africa Games: Lagos)
14 Mar 1976: Egypt 2–3 Nigeria (AFCON: Addis Ababa)
08 Oct 1977: Nigeria 4–0 Egypt (FIFA World Cup qualifier: Lagos)
21 Oct 1977: Egypt 3–1 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup qualifier: Cairo)
15 Mar 1980: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt (AFCON: Lagos)
18 Feb 1983: Nigeria 0–0 Egypt (Friendly: Lagos)
20 Feb 1983: Nigeria 1–1 Egypt (Friendly: Kaduna)
14 Mar 1984: Egypt 2–2 Nigeria (AFCON semi-final: Abidjan) – Nigeria won 8–7 on penalties
20 Mar 1988: Egypt 0–0 Nigeria (AFCON: Rabat)
05 Mar 1990: Egypt 0–1 Nigeria (AFCON: Algiers)
30 Mar 1994: Egypt 0–0 Nigeria (AFCON: Tunis)
21 Sep 1995: Egypt 1–0 Nigeria (All-Africa Games: Harare)
25 Nov 2002: Nigeria 1–1 Egypt (Friendly: Lagos)
12 Jan 2010: Egypt 3–1 Nigeria (AFCON: Benguela, Angola)
12 Apr 2012: Egypt 3–2 Nigeria (Friendly: Cairo)
25 Mar 2016: Nigeria 1–1 Egypt (AFCON qualifier: Kaduna)
29 Mar 2016: Egypt 1–0 Nigeria (AFCON qualifier: Alexandria)
26 Mar 2019: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt (Friendly: Asaba)
11 Jan 2022: Nigeria 1–0 Egypt (AFCON: Garoua, Cameroon)