AFCON 2025: It’s Nigeria v Mozambique’s Mambas in Round of 16 on Monday

Duro Ikhazuagbe

With the conclusion of the final fixtures of the group stage yesterday, Nigeria’s Super Eagles have been scheduled to clash with Mozambique’s Mambas on Monday in the Round of 16 of the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.

By virtue of Nigeria topping Group C with maximum nine points, the Super Eagles will stay back in Fes, Morocco to take on the Mozambicans inside the

35,000-capacity Complexe Sportif at 8pm on Monday, 5th January.

Super Eagles have scored eight goals and conceded four at that venue. Ademola Lookman and Raphael Onyedika have scored twice each, with Semi Ajayi, Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi and Paul Onuachu supplying the other goals to earn full marks in the group phase of Morocco 2025.

Mozambique’s Mambas on the other hand, lost their opening game to Cup holders Cote d’Ivoire, but then dug their feet into the ground to triumph over Gabon, before losing 1-2 to Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions on Wednesday evening.

In their six appearances in AFCON, this is the first time Mozambique will emerge from the group stage as their previous outings in 1986, 1996, 1998, 2010 and 2023 ended with the Mambas finishing bottom of the table on each occasions.

Monday’s confrontation is expected to be explosive, as the young Mambas have demonstrated capacity to stand toe-to-toe with the big teams and pull something out of the inferno whenever they need to.

Of their five previous confrontations, Nigeria have been victorious on four occasions, including their only AFCON encounter way back in Lubango, Angola in January 2010, in which the Eagles ran away with a 3-0 win. Former Eagles forward, Osaze Odemwingie, scored a brace within two minutes (45th and 47th), while Obafemi Martins added the third four minutes to the end of regulation time.

Nigeria won a friendly match in Maputo in August 1999 by the odd goal and won another one in Portugal in October 2023 by 3-2, while 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches ended 0-0 in Maputo and 1-0 in Abuja, Obinna Nsofor scored five minutes into added time to keep alive Nigeria’s World Cup hopes.

RESULTS

E’Guinea 1-3 Algeria

Sudan 0-2 Burkina Faso

Gabon 2-3 Côte d’Ivoire

Mozambique 1-2 Cameroon

ROUND OF 16  FIXTURES

Saturday: Senegal v Sudan, Mali v Tunisia

Sunday: Morocco v Tanzania, S’Africa v Cameroon

Monday: Egypt v Benin, Nigeria v Mozambique

Tuesday: Algeria v DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire v B’Faso