Nigeria begin their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign today against Tanzania in Fes, returning to a familiar opening fixture that carries echoes of their first continental triumph 45 years ago.
The Super Eagles and Taifa Stars meet at the AFCON finals for only the second time, with their previous encounter coming at the 1980 tournament in Lagos. On that occasion, Nigeria opened their campaign with a 3–1 victory over Tanzania before going on to lift the AFCON trophy for the first time in their history.
History also favours Nigeria heading into Tuesday’s clash. The Super Eagles are unbeaten in seven previous meetings with Tanzania across all competitions, recording four wins and three draws. Their most recent encounters came during qualifying for the 2017 AFCON, when the sides played out a goalless draw in Dar es Salaam before Nigeria secured a 1–0 win in Uyo, although neither team ultimately qualified for the tournament.
Nigeria arrive at the finals with a strong record that underlines their status as one of Africa’s most consistent sides. This is their 21st AFCON appearance, with three titles to their name in 1980, 1994 and 2013, and five runners-up finishes, most recently at the 2023 tournament in Côte d’Ivoire. The Super Eagles have finished in the top three in 13 of their last 15 AFCON appearances and have reached at least the semi-finals in 13 of their last 15 tournaments since 1988.
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They have also been reliable starters at the finals, winning 13 of their 20 opening matches, and remain unbeaten in their opening games at the last three tournaments. Nigeria have lost just one of their last 14 AFCON group matches and have found the net in each of their last six group games at the finals.
Tuesday’s fixture will mark Nigeria’s 105th AFCON match, the third-most in tournament history. The Super Eagles have scored 146 goals at the competition and are closing in on the 150-goal milestone.
Eric Chelle, appointed head coach in January after leading Mali to the quarter-finals at AFCON 2023, will oversee his first AFCON match in charge of Nigeria. The Super Eagles qualified for the tournament undefeated, winning four matches and drawing two, with Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen finishing as joint top scorers in the campaign with two goals each.
Tanzania, meanwhile, are making their fourth AFCON appearance and have qualified for successive finals for the first time. The Taifa Stars, who first appeared at the finals in 1980, are still searching for their first AFCON victory, having drawn three and lost seven of their 10 matches at the tournament. They have lost all three of their previous opening games at the finals, although they showed signs of progress in 2023 by avoiding defeat in two consecutive matches for the first time.
One interesting subplot sees Nigeria goalkeeper Amas Obasogie coming up against familiar faces, with the shot-stopper currently playing his club football in Tanzania for Singida Black Stars alongside Hussein Masalinga and Khalid Iddi.
As Nigeria look to make a strong start to another AFCON campaign, the Super Eagles will aim to turn historical dominance and recent consistency into three points against a Tanzania side eager to rewrite their own tournament story.
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