Category World News

Who: Nigeria vs Morocco
What: CAF Africa Cup of Nations
Where: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco
When: Wednesday at 9pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

Nigeria are looking more and more like the team to beat at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), as the Super Eagles soared into the semifinals as the only side to maintain a perfect winning record at the tournament.

Standing between them and a place in the final are hosts Morocco, Africa’s top-ranked nation and 2022 World Cup semifinalists, buoyed by home support and expectation.

For Nigeria, this AFCON campaign carries the weight of redemption after the heartbreak of missing out on this year’s World Cup. For Morocco, the pressure is even heavier – to win the trophy in front of their own fans, 50 years after their last continental triumph.

Questions had lingered over whether the Atlas Lions could shoulder that burden, but they remain firmly on course. This marks Morocco’s first AFCON semifinal appearance since 2004, and belief is growing that history could finally be rewritten.

Here’s everything you need to know about Nigeria vs Morocco:

How did Nigeria reach the AFCON semifinals?

Nigeria finished on top of Group C, winning all three games with a perfect record in the opening round.

They thrashed minnows Mozambique 4-0 in the quarterfinals before storming past Algeria 2-0 to reach the semifinals.

The Super Eagles, the only semifinalists to have won all five matches, have reached the semifinals 17 times in the last 20 tournaments they have qualified for. They are also this edition’s top scorers overall with 14 goals in five matches.

How did Morocco reach the semifinals?

Morocco topped Group A with an unbeaten record, bagging two wins and a draw for seven points.

They began their knockout campaign with a 1-0 win over Tanzania in the round of 16 before beating five-time champions Cameroon 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

The Atlas Lions have advanced to the AFCON semifinals for the first time since 2004, when they lost the final to Tunisia with coach Walid Regragui in the team.

“It is historic. Moroccans have not seen their team in the semifinals of an AFCON for 22 years,” Regragui said. “They deserve it, but we need to keep our feet on the ground and make it even more historic.”

Who will the winner face in the AFCON final?

The winner of this match will face the victor of the first semifinal between Senegal and Egypt.

Who are Nigeria’s best players?

With seven goal involvements (three goals and four assists), Ademola Lookman has been Nigeria’s most effective player at the tournament, proving equally influential as both playmaker and finisher. The London-born forward is providing strong competition to Morocco’s Brahim Diaz for the tournament’s best player award.

Alongside Lookman, Nigeria’s talisman Victor Osimhen remains a lethal threat, scoring four goals, including back-to-back strikes in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. With 35 international goals in 51 appearances for Nigeria, Osimhen is now just two goals away from equalling the national team record of 37 goals held by the late Rashidi Yekini, a member of the Nigerian side that won the 1994 AFCON and also played at two World Cups.

Striker Akor Adams has emerged as an unsung hero, contributing two goals and two assists in the last two matches, while Alex Iwobi has been pulling the strings in midfield, and captain Wilfried Ndidi has been equally influential in anchoring the middle of the park.

Who are Morocco’s best players?

Diaz has arguably been the standout performer of AFCON 2025, scoring in each of his five appearances. With five goals, the Real Madrid winger leads the tournament’s scoring charts, with his closest challengers, Nigeria’s Osimhen and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, both on four.

Described by coach Walid Regragui as the “X factor of my team”, Diaz has marked his AFCON debut in style, leaving viewers in awe of his talent.

Elsewhere, striker Ayoub El Kaabi has also caught the eye with his acrobatic finishes, contributing two goals to bolster Morocco’s front line.

Achraf Hakimi, widely regarded as the world’s best right-back, missed the first two group matches due to an ankle injury but has since returned to full fitness, starting back-to-back matches in the knockout stage.

Nigeria and Morocco form guides

(All competitions, latest results first):

Nigeria: W-W-W-W-W

Morocco: W-W-W-D-W

Head-to-head

Nigeria and Morocco have met in 11 previous encounters, including both competitive and friendly matches.

Morocco have a slight edge in the head-to-head record, winning six times, while Nigeria have won four times. One match ended in a draw.

When did Nigeria and Morocco last meet?

The teams last met in February 2018 in the final of the Africa Nations Championship, commonly known as CHAN.

Morocco won that game 4-0, and El Kaabi, from their current squad, was one of the goal scorers.

Nigeria and Morocco’s last AFCON meeting dates back to January 2004: a group match in which the North Africans won 1-0.

Have Nigeria ever won an AFCON title?

Yes. Nigeria are three-time AFCON champions, winning in 1980, 1994 and 2013.

Have Morocco ever won an AFCON title?

Yes. Morocco won their first and only title in 1976. At that time, Morocco were only the second North African team to win the continental championship after Egypt.

Nigeria team news

Nigeria’s head coach, Eric Chelle, faces a major setback, as captain Ndidi is suspended for this match after collecting his second yellow card of the knockout phase in the last game against Algeria. His fitness had also been in doubt after he picked up an injury in that game.

Osimhen is tipped to take over the captain’s armband for the semifinal.

Nigeria’s predicted lineup

Stanley Nwabali (goalkeeper); Bright Osayi-Samuel, Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey, Bruno Onyamaechi; Frank Onyeka, Raphael Onyedika, Alex Iwobi; Ademola Lookman; Akor Adams, Victor Osimhen

Morocco team news

Midfielder Azzedine Ounahi is out of the tournament with an injury, while coach Regragui will be sweating over Diaz’s fitness after he came off late in the last game with a heavily strapped thigh.

Morocco’s predicted lineup

Somali government minister Ali Omar told Al Jazeera that the UAE improperly used Somali airspace by smuggling “fugitive” Yemeni separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi through his country, which was the “last straw” that pushed Somalia’s government to cancel all agreements with the UAE.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen dodged a reporter’s question about US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, after having photographs taken inside the parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Somalia has torn up all agreements with the United Arab Emirates after UAE-backed Yemeni separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi illegally entered the Gulf Arab country through the breakaway region of Somaliland, a top minister has said.

The move also comes in the wake of Israel’s world-first recognition of Somaliland, which has been roundly condemned across Africa and the Arab world and beyond.

Ali Omar, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera that the entry of al-Zubaidi, leader of the now-defunct Southern Transitional Council (STC), into Somali territory on January 8 was “the last straw” that prompted Mogadishu to cancel all deals with Abu Dhabi.

The decision, announced by Somalia’s Council of Ministers on Monday, annuls agreements spanning port operations, security cooperation and defence.

“Using Somalia’s airspace, Somalia’s airfields to smuggle a fugitive is not something that Somalia condones,” Omar said, describing how al-Zubaidi allegedly travelled on a UAE-registered cargo plane from Berbera port to Mogadishu.

He said Somali authorities received the plane’s manifest, but al-Zubaidi’s name was not listed, suggesting he was hiding aboard.

Omar emphasised that while the incident triggered the decision, it reflected deeper frustrations with the UAE’s conduct in Somalia.

“It was one of the reasons we took this action. Not the reason, but one of the reasons,” he said. “We tried to deal with them diplomatically, but now we have decided to take action. Diplomacy didn’t work, and so now the constitution has to work.”

The announcement has exposed deep fractures in Somalia’s federal system, which grants member states significant autonomy over their affairs.

Within hours of the decision, two regions with close commercial and security ties with the UAE rejected Mogadishu’s authority to cancel the agreements.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but lacks international recognition, also closely aligned with Abu Dhabi, rejected it too.

The minister said Somalia had exhausted diplomatic channels before taking action.

“We were hoping things would change, but it did not change,” Omar told Al Jazeera, adding that the country is “claiming its sovereignty again, and we are asking people to respect that.”

He drew parallels between Somalia’s situation and Yemen’s conflict, praising Saudi efforts to stabilise the country and noting that “a stable Yemen helps stabilise Somalia and vice versa”.

A broader regional convergence of interests with Riyadh forms the backdrop to this decision, following Saudi Arabia’s move to push the UAE-backed STC out of Yemen and its adoption of a more assertive posture against Abu Dhabi.

Somalia’s Information Minister Daud Aweis insisted the decision wasn’t taken under Saudi pressure in an interview with Al Jazeera.

The UAE has not commented on the allegations or Somalia’s decision to cancel agreements.

Somalia’s move comes amid anger in Mogadishu over what officials view as the UAE’s significant influence through breakaway and autonomous regions.

According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Washington-based research institution, Emirati investments in East Africa total approximately $47bn, accounting for more than half of Gulf funding flowing into the area.

“There was a time that Somalia accepted any help that it could get, regardless of how it came through. But that has created challenges,” Aweis said.

“Today we have an established government system that needs to be respected,” he said.

“Somalia is trying to reclaim its sovereignty and asking the international community and other partners to deal with state-to-state, rather than state-to-non-state actors.”

Israeli recognition fuels tensions

The breakdown in relations also follows Israel’s recognition of Somaliland in December, a move many Somalis believe the UAE facilitated. The UAE has not commented on that allegation.

While the UAE declined to sign a joint Arab-Islamic statement in December condemning Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, on January 7, it released a joint statement with the African Union pledging “support for Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability”.

Omar expressed confidence that no other countries would follow Israel’s lead, citing diplomatic outreach and continental concerns.

“I don’t think so. And I hope that will not happen. I think we have done enough diplomatic outreach throughout the world,” he said.

Dozens of countries and international bodies have condemned the move, and while Trump said he would not follow Israel’s decision, he added that the matter was under review.

He said other countries shared challenges with separatist movements and warned that it could open “a Pandora’s box”.

“I don’t think the world is ready to make that kind of action,” he said.

Omar also pointed to internal divisions within Somaliland on the issue of whether separate statehood in the north is the right move.

Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, has been one of the most stable parts of Somalia and boasts its own currency, flag, central bank, and distinct political identity.

After Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, announced Israel’s recognition in December, he said that the existence of a separate state did not mean that the cultural, ethnic, and religious bonds among Somalis had been severed.

Omar, the Somali minister, explained that the region comprises five major clans, with two eastern clans having already seceded to form the Northeast State, while similar dynamics are emerging in the west.

“There isn’t sufficient momentum for separatism,” he said.

The minister warned that reports of a potential Israeli military base in Somaliland pose broader regional security risks.

“The region has enough mess, enough trouble, enough insecurity. To bring Israel into the region will only create more challenges,” he said, cautioning that such a presence would attract armed fighters to an area where ISIL (ISIS) and al-Shabab already operate.