Super Eagles’ impressive penalty shootout record at AFCON

Three-time African champions, Super Eagles of Nigeria clinched their record extending ninth bronze medal at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after outscoring the Pharaohs of Egypt 4-2 on penalties following a barren draw in the losers’ match played on Saturday, January 17, in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.

Without a doubt, Nigeria’s hero in the shootout was Stanley Nwabali who saved two kicks from the legendary Mo Salah who plays for Liverpool, and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush.

Also worthy of mention is Ademola Lookman who kept his nerves to score the final penalty that sealed the win for the Super Eagles.

The victory further highlighted the Super Eagles’ indisputable ranking as the most successful “third place” team in the history of the tournament.

Interestingly, despite Super Eagles’ enviable penalty shootout record at the AFCON, it was the first time that they won the bronze medal on penalties as almost all the previous eight victories came within regulation time (with the exception of 1978, which was awarded by forfeit).

Super Eagles’ AFCON bronze history

While Nigeria is the most successful “third-place” team in the tournament’s history, they have almost always won their bronze matches in regulation time.

1976-Egypt 3–2 Round-robin group stage

1978-Tunisia 1–1*Awarded 2–0 (Tunisia walked off)

1992-Cameroon 2–1 Regulation Time

2002-Mali  1–0 Regulation Time

2004-Mali  2–1 Regulation Time

2006-Senegal 1–0 Regulation Time

2010 Algeria 1–0 Regulation Time

2019 Tunisia 1–0 Regulation Time

2025 Egypt 0–0 4–2 on Penalties

Super Eagles’ AFCON penalty shootout

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The Nigerian national team’s recent mishaps with penalty shootouts made many to conclude that the players are either not lucky with the “game of lottery” or they simply lack the composure to score from the six yard box.

Before their most recent failure against Morocco in the high-stake semi-final clash at the 2025 AFCON, the Super Eagles had lost 3-4 on penalties to Democratic Republic of Congo in the final of the CAF Playoff for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Therefore, when they were to face another shootout against Egypt last Saturday, most Nigerian football fans, especially those without any knowledge of their team’s history of victories from the penalty box at the AFCON became visibly worried as they concluded it would be another bitter pill to swallow.

However, this time, the players Eric Chelle picked for the decisive moment maintained their calm to justify the Super Eagles’ rating as one of the most successful teams in penalty shootout at the AFCON.

As a matter of fact, the Nigerian national team, both as the Green Eagles and Super Eagles, hold the record for some of the longest shootouts in tournament history, twice winning with scores of 10–9 (against Egypt in 1984 and Algeria in 1988).

It is also worthy to note that following the latest penalty shootout victory against Egypt, the Super Eagles have been involved in 10 penalty shootouts in the tournament’s history, with most of the shootouts occurring in the semi-final stage. Their overall record is 7 wins and 3 losses.

They won four semi-final matches on penalties in 1984 against (Egypt), 1988 (Algeria), 1994 (Ivory Coast), and 2023 (South Africa.

The Super Eagles also recorded two quarter-final victories on penalties against Tunisia in 2006 and Zambia in 2010 while losing two semi-final penalty shootout to Tunisia 2004 and Morocco 2025.

Their only defeat on penalties came against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on home in 2000 when Nigeria and Ghana co-hosted the tournament.

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