Welcome and a warm welcome! Thank you for joining us as Mozambique and Nigeria battle it out for a spot in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations second round.
The winner of this contest will advance to the last eight places in the lot.
The Mamba of Mozambique placed third in Group F, while the Super Eagles placed first.
Victor Osimhen, a superstar at Galatasaray, and the Super Eagles are determined to win the AFCON trophy as a consolation for their insufficient participation in the 2026 World Cup.
[Nigeria 2-0 Mozambique] in the half-time period
45′: Referee Abdou Mefire whistled the whistle to end the first half.
However, Nigeria had a two-goal lead at the end of the first 45 minutes.
Onyeka made a reservation
After downing an opponent, Frank Onyeka receives a yellow card.
GOAL ! Osimhen Makes It Two For The Super Eagles
25′: Nigeria 1-0 Mozambique
After receiving a cross from Victor Osimhen, the Mozambican goalkeeper scuttles it in the direction of goal.
GOAL ! Lookman Gives Nigeria the Lead, 
20′: Nigeria 1-0 Mozambique
In the 20th minute, Ademola Lookman’s excellent assist put Nigeria ahead.
Kickoff
Mozambique 0-0 with Nigeria
Mozambique kicks off the match at 8 p.m.
The warm-up is over, and kickoff is soon. #Naija4TheWin #NGAMOZ #AFCON2025 pic. twitter.com/QdhUzTPEHp
After three decades of inactivity, the National Institute of Sports (NIS), the organization’s director general, Phillip Shaibu, has announced that the organization is beginning to revive its core training programs. He cited the move as a crucial step toward fixing Nigeria’s sports ecosystem.
Shaibu disclosed this on Monday during a speech on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, in which he revealed that the NIS had just started its 30-year coaching program in three months.
According to him, the program was held in Abuja, and participants graduated last year on December 18th.
After 30 years in Abuja, we had our first three-month coaching program, and on December 18, Shaibu graduated those students.
He explained that a public-private partnership partnership helped to resurrect the institution after he assumed office, which he claimed became necessary due to the state in which he had met the Institute.
Shaibu argued that the government should provide the facilities while the private sector manages operations, but circumstances forced a change.
The state I met with NIS reflected how the country’s sports industry was being treated, he said, adding that the Institute’s demise is a reflection of how the country’s sporting scene is faring.
Shaibu emphasized that the NIS is responsible for the development of all sports, producing athletes, coaches, referees, and technical officials who support the entire sports value chain.
The Institute’s continued dysfunction, in his opinion, has had a significant impact on the nation’s sports ecosystem’s ability to train athletes.
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is in its business phase. In a Round of 16 tie, Nigeria and Mozambique will face off against them in a tie for the title.  ,
One of only two teams that included Algeria in the 2026 World Cup, the Super Eagles, who had suffered the heartache of missing out on the tournament, finished the tournament on a high note by winning all three of their group stage encounters.  ,
In Group C, Nigeria, under the direction of Coach Eric Chelle, blew past Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda to set up a confrontation with Mozambique’s Mambas.  ,
On December 23, 2025, Nigeria’s head coach Eric Chelle reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group C football game at Fez Stadium in Fes. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT/AFP)
However, their performance at the AFCON in 2025 was less impressive than that of their rivals. One of their four best third-placed teams made it to the knockouts, the Southern Africans. In order to advance to the Round of 16, they lost two Group F matches but won one against Gabon.  ,
Geny Catamo, a 10-year-old midfielder for Mozambique, celebrates scoring his nation’s first goal in the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group F game between Mozambique and Cameroon at Agadir on December 31, 2025. (FRANCK FIFE/AFP photo)
Mozambique’s match with Nigeria is their first-ever AFCON knockout match, unlike the three-time champions.
Team News, Important Players, and Nigeria vs. Mozambique
Mozambique has lost a clean sheet in each of its 18 AFCON games. The Super Eagles scored the group’s highest goal total, which they need to improve against a Nigerian side with plenty of attacking options.  ,
The group phase’s top coaches, Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Osimhen, and Ademola Lookman, will provide the frontline support, according to Chelle, who was named the best coach in the group phase.  ,
The Franco-Malian coach is anticipated to have regular players like Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Stanley Nwabali, Frank Onyeka, and Akor Adams, with no injury concerns for key players.  ,
Raphael Onyedika’s strong start puts him in a strong position, thanks to his brace against Uganda.  ,
The Mambas can count on Geny Catamo, who has so far scored two of their four goals, even though Chiquinho Conde and his team do not parade stars of Nigerian caliber. Ryan Alebiosu and Cyriel Dessers are both sidelined and Ryan is out of the tournament with a broken ankle.  ,
On December 31, 2025, during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group F football match between Mozambique and Cameroon at the Grand Stadium in Agadir, head coach Chiquinho Conde yells instructions to his players from the touchline. (FRANCK FIFE/AFP photo)
A Head-to-Head Comparaison between Nigeria and Mozambique
The two countries will play in the AFCON on Monday for the second time, the first of which took place in Angola in 2010. With the help of Peter Odemwingie and the pacy Obafemi Martins, the Super Eagles defeated Mozambique 3-0.  ,
Nigeria and Mozambique have played five games overall, with the West Africans winning four and drawing one. In a friendly match that took place in Portugal in 2023, the Super Eagles defeated their rivals by 3-2.
The 2025 AFCON Match Kickoff Time, Other Game Details, and Nigeria vs. Mozambique
Round of 16: Nigeria vs. Mozambique
CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025  , competition
Kickoff time: Monday at 8 p.m. (WAT)/Nigeria time.
Fez Stadium in Fez, Morocco
Can the Mambas aggravate a conflict between Nigeria and Mozambique?
Despite record budgetary allocations to the sector in recent years, Phillip Shaibu, the director-general of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), has accused the Federal Government of consistently excluding the institute from national sports funding.
Shaibu made the claim on the National Institute of Sports’ claim on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Monday, saying that despite the highest level of funding for sports under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the allocation did not include the National Institute of Sports.
One of the highest allocations for sports funding has been made by this administration. The sports sector’s most recent budget had the highest ever budget, but NIS was not included in that funding, which he claimed has done for decades.
He claimed that the institute’s decline was caused by deliberate exclusion and that previous sports ministers and the budgetary framework.
He argued that the National Assembly should hold former sports ministers accountable for their roles in the NIS’s destruction.
“I requested that all former sports ministers be called in to apologize for their contribution to the destruction of NIS. The budgeting process encourages consumption but does not promote maintenance or infrastructural development, according to Shaibu.
The current sports administration in Nigeria, according to the NIS Director-General, is flawed, and the government should concentrate more on infrastructure than on running the sport.
Government has no business in business, according to simple economics, but it does so by creating enabling environments. The government has a business in developing and building infrastructure, but it has no business in running a sport. The private sector will profit from that infrastructure, he said.
Shaibu revealed that he first met an institute that had been around for 51 years without a detailed development plan when he took office about five months ago.
Without a plan, the NIS, who is 51 years old, requested that we create a roadmap. We needed to involve the private sector because funding is a significant issue, he said.
He added that private sector interest in restoring the institute has been stifled by the country’s high level of resentment toward the country’s sports performance.
Many private sector players are interested in making NIS work, according to Shaibu, because everyone is tired of praying and fasting for our sports to win tournaments.
The institute has been able to launch important programmes through public-private partnerships, he claims, despite having a limited budget.
I had more reason to think creatively when I met my lean budget. We were able to launch our programs with that tight budget, he said.
READ MORE: Ruben Amorim’s departure from Manchester United
Shaibu disclosed that the institute’s Abuja office, which had been shut down for decades, has been reopened without receiving a direct budget.
Without any resources, we restored the Abuja office. After 30 years in Abuja, we had our first three-month coaching program, and on December 18, we graduated those participants. Without having a budget, the office is back and has been adequately renovated, he said.
Without the NIS’s adequate funding and operation, Nigeria’s sports fortunes would continue to suffer.
14 months after joining Manchester United, Ruben Amorim was fired, according to the club’s announcement on Monday.
The Portuguese leadership of the club “reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change,” according to United’s statement.
The team will have the best chance to achieve the highest Premier League finish, the club added.
Ruben’s contribution to the organization merits recognition and best wishes for him in the future.
Darren Fletcher, the current Under-18s coach, will lead the team against Burnley on Wednesday.
Following a 1-1 draw at Leeds on Sunday, United are currently sixth in the Premier League.
On May 11, 2025, Manchester United’s Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim reacts during the English Premier League game between West Ham United and Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, north-west England. (Photo by Oli SCARFF/AFP)  
In a stunning press conference where he told the scouting department and football director Jason Wilcox, “to do their job,” an angry Amorim stressed after the game that he was United’s manager rather than just the coach.
The United boss refused to clarify his recent comments about the club’s transfer plans, despite the 40-year-old alluded to frustration in the lead up to the game.
When he avoided those questions, he appeared depressed, but he was more open when questioned on Sunday if he still believed the board had given him confidence.
On January 23, 2025, Manchester United’s Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim reacts during the UEFA Europa League game between the Glasgow Rangers and Manchester United at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, North West England. (Photo by Oli SCARFF/AFP)
To start with, “Guys, I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not the coach of Manchester United,” Amorim said, “and I noticed that you receive selective information about everything.” That is obvious.
“I am aware that I am the manager of Manchester United, not (Thomas) Tuchel), Antonio Conte, or Jose Mourinho.
That’s my point, because it’s going to be this for 18 months or when the board decides to change.
“That’s what I want to do to finish.” I’ll keep going. I’ll continue working until a replacement comes in to replace me.
(FILES) On April 27, 2025, Manchester United’s Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim reacts to the English Premier League clash between Bournemouth and Manchester United at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, southern England. (Glyn KIRK/AFP photo)
Amorim was appointed in November 2024 and helped the team reach the Europa League championship final in Bilbao in May, where they lost to Tottenham Hotspur, despite finishing 15th in the Premier League last year.
Since David Moyes was fired just eight months into his position at United in 2014, his 14-month tenure is the shortest under his belt.
Cameroon advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals on Sunday against South Africa’s expense with goals from Junior Tchamadeu and Christian Kofane, who scored twice from half-time.
Two minutes after half-time, Kofane, a young Bayer Leverkusen forward, scored the crucial second goal at Al Medina Stadium in Rabat.
READ MORE: Diaz Brings Morocco to the AFCON Quarter-Finals
Evidence Makgopa rallied late from South Africa, but Cameroon was the one who prevailed, and the five-time champions now face Morocco in the heavyweight quarter-final on Friday.
They can relax before the match, knowing that Morocco will be under no pressure to defend their title in front of their own home supporters.
After a chaotic start, when the football federation’s president and Indomitable Lions legend Samuel Eto’o fired coach Marc Brys, David Pagou was appointed as his replacement and Cameroon’s AFCON was already a success.
Hugo Broos, who had resigned as South Africa’s head coach nine years after leading them to their final continental crown at the Cup of Nations in Gabon, had a bad reputation with the new coach.
Bafana Bafana, who finished third at the previous AFCON in the Ivory Coast two years ago, will experience a lot of disappointment, but they can at least make up for it by focusing on the upcoming World Cup.
South Africa’s players applaud after the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) round of 16 football match between Cameroon and South Africa at Rabat’s Al Medina Stadium on January 4, 2026. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT/AFP)
Relebohile Mofokeng wasted a valuable opportunity in the seventh minute when South Africa had the chance to take the lead early.
Mofokeng was put on goal by Cameroon defender Che Malone after a simple pass from the left, but the Orlando Pirates forward blazed over.
After the offside flag, Lyle Foster then had the ball in the net, but Cameroon won just before the half-hour mark.
The ball fell to Carlos Baleba on the edge of the area when the South African defense could only partially clear a corner.
The London-born full-back with Stoke City rolled home from close range after he tried a shot that was deflected into Tchamadeu’s path.
The Cameroonian fans made up the majority of the 14, 127 crowd, with Eto’o, a two-time AFCON champion as a player, among those present. That goal was confirmed after a lengthy VAR check.
South Africa had anticipated a strong second half start, but Cameroon did not. Within two minutes of the restart.
Mahamadou Nagida’s substitution crossed from the left, and Kofane scored the tournament’s second goal.
Before Makgopa turned in a low cross by fellow substitute Aubrey Modiba in the 88th minute, Cameroon goalkeeper Devis Epassy made good saves from Samukele Kabini and a Teboho Mokoena free-kick.
That resulted in a grandstand finish, but Cameroon resisted.
