Category World News

Who: Tanzania vs. Nigeria
What: CAF Africa Cup of Nations
Where: Fez Stadium in Fez, Morocco
When: Tuesday, December 23, at 6:30pm (17:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 14:30 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

The Super Eagles are looking for answers despite another World Cup qualification disappointment, which was expected to pave the way for the country.

Nigeria travels to Morocco in search of redemption and continental awe after suffering from a 2026-related heartache. The three-time champions face Group C opponents Tanzania, who have only made three appearances at the tournament. They kick off their AFCON 2025 campaign.

Nigeria, which features Tunisia and Uganda in addition to world-class talent in Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, are among the favorites to lead the group.

For the second time in 45 years, Tanzania and Nigeria square off against one another in Fez’s continental championships on Tuesday.

What is the only thing you need to know about the game:

What prevented Nigeria from qualifying for the World Cup in 2026?

Nigeria finished third among the nine African qualifying countries, but they lost to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 4-3 on penalties, failing to make it to the inter-confederation playoffs.

The Super Eagles, who have won six World Cups, have now lost out for the global showpiece competition for the second time in a row.

One of the causes of their World Cup disappointment was the team’s poor start to their qualifying campaign, managerial changes, and pay dispute.

What transpired following DCR’s defeat?

Nigeria filed a petition with FIFA last week alleging that the DRC had fielded ineligible players in that crucial playoff game.

The Nigerian football federation claimed that several dual-national players had been cleared to play for DRC without meeting the necessary standards, but the DRC’s federation refuted the claims.

Tanzania’s coaching turnover

In Tanzania, there is no shortage of controversy.

Just one month before AFCON 2025, Tanzania’s football federation fired Hemed Suleiman as its coach, replacing him with Miguel Gamondi, who will assume the team’s interim leadership.

Tanzania reached the quarterfinals of the African Nations Championships this year under the guidance of former coach Suleiman, who made their fourth Cup of Nations appearance. However, they were unable to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Who should you watch for Nigeria’s main players?

Forwards and former CAF Player of the Year award winners Osimhen and Lookman are among the Nigerian squad’s top talents in all departments.

The other notable players are striker Samuel Chukwueze, midfielders Alex Iwobi, and defender Calvin Bassey.

Who are the main players in Tanzania?

Tanzania’s squad includes experienced forward Simon Msuva and Mbwana Samatta, who plays for Ligue 1 club Le Havre.

Msuva is still the squad’s most-capped member despite missing the October and November window. His 100th international cap will be made on Tuesday.

Haji Mnoga, a youngster who plays for Salford City in the English fourth tier, is also a member of the squad, while Mohamed Hussein, a formidable player, is a formidable addition to Tanzania’s backline.

Form manual

Last match of the week:

Nigeria: L-L-W-W-W

Tanzania: L-L-L-L-D

Head-to-head

Seven times, including at the FIFA World Cup, have Nigeria and Tanzania met in any one competition.

In four of those matches, Nigeria prevailed, with three ending in draw.

Their most recent meeting was in 2016, at AFCON, where Nigeria won with a score of 1-0.

AFCON records

Nigeria has won the AFCON 20 times, most recently winning the trophy in 2013 and finishing second overall. In 13 of their last 15 AFCON appearances, they consistently placed in the top three.

In their three AFCON appearances, Tanzania have never advanced past the group stage. In their nine AFCON games overall, they have lost six and drawn three, making them one of only four teams to have never won an AFCON game this year.

Tanzania has qualified for successive finals for the first time since the AFCON 2025.

News from the Nigerian team

Without injured fullback Ola Aina and center-back Benjamin Fredrick, Nigeria will be without them.

The regular captain, William Troost-Ekong, has recently announced his retirement from international football, with Ndidi taking over as captain.

Surprise omissions from the squad were Victor Boniface and Tolu Arokodare.

Nigeria’s lineup was anticipated

Nwabili (Goalkeeper), Osayi-Samuel, Ajayi, Bassey, Sanusi, Chukwueze, Ndidi, Iwobi, Lookman, Osimhen, and Adams

News from the Tanzania team

Mudathir Yahya, a veteran midfielder, was dropped from the squad by new coach Gamondi, but there are no absentees.

Tanzania’s lineup was anticipated

If my memory serves me correctly, I learned that there wasn’t a Santa Claus on Christmas Eve 1992.

I had been holding onto Santa for the entire 10-year-old elementary school year in Austin, Texas, apparently unprepared to give up my youth, even though I had already debunked the existence of the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny.

I cried when I saw my parents delivering the allegedly North Pole gifts.

Many Americans are feeling deceived by another man wearing MAGA red this holiday season, after more than three decades.

In addition to manic deportations, which have helped turn the country into a holly, jolly police state, President Donald Trump has neglected to fulfill pretty much all of his key promises as the country nears the end of his first year in office.

Americans are struggling with skyrocketing living costs, including rising rents and rising electricity costs, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll that found Trump’s approval rating at just 39 percent.

Millions of people in the federal government shutdown this year were faced with the distinct possibility of starvation, a situation that was largely incompatible with the government’s stated goal of “making America great again.”

The unemployment rate increased to 4.6%, the highest level in nearly five years, as a result of the shutdown’s job losses. Many economists believe that employers have resumed hiring as a result of what some have called the Trump tariffs on imports as shock.

Trump has obviously made a terrible mistake in his commitment to fixing the US economy. However, the president has given the current economy an “A+++++” rating in his own personal hyperbolic make-believe environment while calling the nation’s alleged “affordability” crisis a Democratic “hoax” to tarnish his reputation.

Although it’s true, the United States has never been particularly affordable. After all, that would ultimately undermine plutocracy’s foundation of human nature and its cutting-edge capitalism.

Republicans and Democrats may appear to be ideological opposites, but they are actually two sides of the same coin when it comes to perpetuating the racialized elite’s rule and making poverty the top cause of death in one of the richest nations on Earth.

In Louisville, Kentucky, where my mother and I are currently spending the holidays, are spending almost the same amount as the monthly rent on my beach house in southern Mexico. One meat product and no alcoholic beverages were included in our unfulfilled shopping cart.

In addition, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was the subject of the notorious March 2020 police shooting in Louisville. A former police officer who was found guilty of Taylor’s shooting, which occurred during the first Trump administration, was given a one-day prison sentence earlier this year, according to the US Department of Justice.

In the end, the officer was given a 33-month sentence that was slightly longer.

Indeed, you’re only going to experience disappointment if your holiday wish list includes a stop to systemic racism or police brutality.

At least 16 files relating to the case of late financier and child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein mysteriously disappeared from the department’s website shortly after they were published, according to other contemporary Justice Department misdeeds.

Trump’s photo, which he previously described as a “Democrat hoax,” was one of the items that went missing, along with other items.

According to survivor Marina Lacerda, other recently released documents have been heavily redacted or completely blacked out, making them “another slap in the face” to Epstein’s victims.

In other words, today’s domestic environment doesn’t offer much holiday cheer.

But there I go, spreading “hoaxes” once more.

Trump’s continued wanton bombing of boats in the Venezuelan area and the subsequent extrajudicial killing of seafarers, allegedly in the name of “narcoterrorism,” have also occurred during the holiday season.

The US’s anti-Venezuelan arsenal has now grown to allow for the hijacking of oil tankers&nbsp, as well. Trump’s claim on social media that the South American nation had previously stolen “Oil, Land, and other Assets” from the United States has been amplification of the list of fabricated casus belli. The president did not declare war on Venezuela in an interview with NBC on Thursday.

Israel’s genocide of Palestinians continues apace in the Gaza Strip under the guise of a Trump-brokered ceasefire. Trump has poured billions of dollars into the US taxpayers in response to the genocidal state, just like his Democratic foe Joe Biden.

Consider it a massive stocking stuffer.

And as Christmastime approaches this year, it’s not all jovial.

One of Gaza City’s most significant landmarks, the Great Omari Mosque, dates back more than 2000 years. In December of this year, an Israeli attack destroyed it. The mosque’s administrator, Hatem Haniya, considers its history and its profound significance for Gaza’s citizens.