AFCON 2025: Why Nigeria are kings of third

Hearts of the Nigerian national team's fans sunk to unfathomable depths the moment Youssef En-Nesyri emphatically fired his penalty past Stanley Nwabali to send Morocco through to the final of the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

That singular act, coupled with goalkeeper Yassine Bounou's almost unconventional save of Bruno Onyemaechi's kick prior, ended Nigeria's hopes of going beyond the stage reached at the last AFCON.

Instead, the result set them up for a date in the match to determine which team claims bronze on Saturday (17 January), against Egypt, who were defeated in the other semi-final by Senegal.

That scenario is one Nigerians are thoroughly familiar with, even if they have not been comfortable with it. No team has finished third at the men's AFCON more often than Nigeria have: a remarkable eight times, which is as often as they have placed first and second combined.

Early advantage

The first of those third-place finishes came at the 1976 edition, where there was no actual bronze-medal game. There were, in fact, technically no knockout matches at all during that tournament; rather, a final round of group games eventually decided in which order the four teams that made it out of the group stage finished. The team Nigeria beat to seal third spot?

Egypt.

Two years later, Nigeria found themselves in that same scenario and triumphed again against North African opposition, this time Tunisia, but without having to do a full day's work for it.

With the game pegged at 1-1 just before half-time, the Tunisians walked off in protest of what they deemed poor officiating, and Nigeria were consequently awarded the spoils by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

After winning the trophy for the first time at the next edition and picking up silver three times in the five tournaments that followed, Nigeria were back to bronze in 1992. Eliminated by Ghana in a keenly fought semi-final, Nigeria went on to defeat another of their great foes, Cameroon, for consolation.

Then came three third-place finishes in a row; versus Mali (2002, 2004) and Senegal (2006). Two editions later, there was one more to underline Nigeria's place as a truly formidable team on the continent, but one which far too often failed to go all the way.

For a country that was arguably Africa's top side of the nineties, it must have been quite frustrating for the Super Eagles to play the bridesmaid so frequently a full decade into the 21st Century.

Nigeria and Egypt renew third-place rivalry

That series of near-misses ended in 2013, when Stephen Keshi masterminded Nigeria's first AFCON victory in nearly 20 years. But any good vibes and shoots of ambition which came with that conquest quickly died off, after Nigeria shockingly failed to qualify for the next two AFCONs.

By 2019, they were back at the showpiece… and back to finishing third, ‘properly’ beating Tunisia this time. And now Nigeria find themselves in familiar territory, on the brink of adding to their unmatched haul of bronzes, against an Egypt side that has a record of three wins and three losses in AFCON third-place fixtures.

Needless to say, Nigeria fans would rather their team possess Egypt's more enviable distinction of being the most successful team in AFCON history, than be known as winners of the most bronze medals.

But while some may be inclined to view the latter as a somewhat dubious honour, it may actually be more something to celebrate, one that says a lot about the Nigerian psyche, as sports journalist Oma Akatugba (a proud Nigerian himself) succinctly explains.

“Nigerians just have a thing for never wanting to finish last. So there’s motivation for us to always go home with something,” he told Olympics.com.

There is actually a phrase in Nigerian Pidgin that encapsulates the concept Akatugba explains above: “Naija no dey carry last!”, meaning "Nigerians won't finish last".

In other words, Nigeria, in this context, is never content returning from the AFCON empty-handed; once they make the last four, it is unacceptable and actually very rare that they don't emerge medallists. In fact, only on four of their 20 previous appearances have Nigeria not departed with some sort of silverware in the cargo.

That is far from the kind of record and mindset that other African sides, such as their West African rivals Ghana, have.

The Black Stars, conspicuously missing from Morocco 2025, have played five third-place games and won just once; only Senegal, zero wins from three, have a worse record.

Not so with the Nigerians, and, if you ask them, that is not going to start on Saturday. Their record with bronze at stake is impeccable and Eric Chelle's determined charges would very much like to keep it so.

Saturday 17 January – Third-place play-off

17:00: Egypt vs Nigeria

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