Nigeria

Nigeria finished second in CAF Group C behind South Africa, which forced them into the four-team CAF playoff. They beat Gabon 4-1 in the playoff semi-final on 13 November 2025 and progressed to the final against DR Congo three days later in Rabat. Frank Onyeka headed Nigeria in front inside three minutes from a William Troost-Ekong cross. Meschack Elia equalised for DR Congo before half-time, and the score stayed 1-1 through 30 minutes of extra time.

DR Congo's coaching staff substituted starting goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi for Timothy Fayulu in the 119th minute, a deliberate shootout-specialist swap. Fayulu saved two of Nigeria's penalties; captain Chancel Mbemba converted the decisive kick. The final shootout score was 4-3.

DR Congo went on to the inter-confederation playoff in March 2026; Nigeria stayed home. Eric Chelle, the Franco-Malian coach appointed in January 2025 with a brief to win AFCON and reach the World Cup, kept his job after the playoff loss but the NFF announced a tactical review and the federation president faced calls to resign in the Nigerian press.

Nigeria's group-stage path produced one of the more comfortable knockout berths despite an opening-round wobble. The Super Eagles topped their group, won their round-of-16 match, then beat Côte d'Ivoire on penalties in the quarter-final, eliminating the defending champions. The semi-final against hosts Morocco at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca went to extra time and penalties; Morocco edged the shootout 4-2 to advance. Nigeria recovered to beat Egypt in the third-place playoff, the country's eighth third-place finish in AFCON history.

AFCON 2025 was held in Morocco between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026. The original final result, Senegal 1-0 Morocco after extra time at Stade Hassan II in Casablanca, was overturned by the CAF appeals board on 18 March 2026 after Senegal players briefly walked off the pitch in protest of a stoppage-time penalty awarded to Morocco. CAF awarded Morocco a 3-0 forfeit win and the title; Senegal has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

AFCON 2027 returns to Morocco. Nigeria will be expected to compete for the title under whichever coaching set-up succeeds the World Cup playoff post-mortem. Wilfred Ndidi captained the team across AFCON 2025.

Ademola Lookman (Wandsworth, London), Calvin Bassey (Aosta, Italy), Frank Onyeka (Onitsha, raised in England) and Iheanacho-era predecessors all moved through European youth structures before committing to Nigeria at senior level. The NFF formally codified the pathway in 2022 after Lookman's switch: any player with at least one Nigerian-passport-holding parent qualifies for the Super Eagles, irrespective of where they were born or which youth team they represented.

The competitive logic is simple: Nigeria's parent-pool diaspora is among the world's largest (UK, USA, Italy, Germany, Canada). The structural tension is the parallel decline of NPFL-pipeline players in the senior squad. Eric Chelle's first squads named only two NPFL-based players, and the NFF squad-rule requirement of two NPFL players per matchday squad sits in active tension with the diaspora-prioritising selection trend.

On TV, the NTA national network carries at least one Super Eagles home fixture per international window for free-to-air audiences. SuperSport (DStv) carries every Super Eagles match in HD. StarTimes runs selected NPFL matches and AFCON-cycle qualifiers. The NPFL's official YouTube channel streams three to five matches free per weekend.

On betting, Nigeria's National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) licenses online sportsbooks. Bet9ja is the title sponsor of the NPFL and runs up to 92 markets per fixture, the deepest NPFL coverage in Nigeria's market. SportyBet, BetKing and 1xBet also hold NLRC licences. The NLRC framework is currently subject to a state-vs-federal jurisdiction case at the Supreme Court.