Nigeria qualified for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco with two games to spare, thanks to Libya’s 1-0 win over Rwanda in Kigali on Thursday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Mediterranean Knights stunned their hosts with an 84th-minute goal from Saad Mohamed to revive their qualification hopes, ultimately cementing Nigeria’s place at the 35th AFCON tournament in Morocco next year.
The Super Eagles were billed to take on the Cheetahs of Benin Republic at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and needed at least a point to secure their place in the finals, but the job was done before kick-off, thanks to Libya, a team that had put the Nigerian contingent through an unforgettable ordeal in October.
Nigeria, three-time African champions, have now qualified for what will be their 21st appearance at the tournament, which will be held from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
The team recently finished as runners-up at the 2023 edition held between January and February this year in Ivory Coast. The team led by Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro lost 2-1 to the hosts in the final, marking the nation’s fifth agonising final defeat at the AFCON since their first participation in 1963.
They have also finished third on eight occasions.
Nigeria’s three AFCON titles were won on home soil in 1980, 1994 in Tunisia, and 2013 in South Africa.
Libya’s win meant the Super Eagles would only have to play to secure the top spot in the group, with a date against Rwanda still to come at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Monday.
As things stand in Group D, third-placed Rwanda, who have five points, and the bottom-placed Libya, who sit a point below them, still have faint hopes of securing a spot in Morocco 2025.