SHOCK: ERIC CHELLE’S JOB ON THE LINE, DISCOVER THE NIGERIA VS TANZANIA REALITY
Eric Chelle admits he could be fired after AFCON. Discover how the Super Eagles plan to redeem their World Cup failure!
With José Peseiro as coach back then, Nigeria beat Cameroon in the round of 16, barely scraped by Angola in the quarter-final, and somehow won on penalties against South Africa in the semi-final. Then, the host team, Cote d'Ivoire, beat them in the final.
Nigeria set a high bar at the last Cup of Nations, Chelle said before his team's first match in Group C against Tanzania for the 2025 event in Morocco.
We didn't win, which sucked, but we can't do worse than that. The expectations are already up there, and the team's ready because they know what happened.
Chelle's team is coming into the 2025 Cup of Nations looking to make up for missing out on the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
They came in second to South Africa in their group, and the Democratic Republic of Congo beat them in the African play-off final for a spot at the intercontinental play-offs next March in Mexico.
Everyone knows what went down during the World Cup qualifying, Chelle added. So all eyes are on this competition. This is a chance we have, so the team is totally ready.
After the game Tuesday night at Fez Stadium, Nigeria will play Tunisia and Uganda at the same place.
Group C
The two best teams from each of the six groups will go to the knockout rounds, along with the four third-place teams that did the best.
Old-timer midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is now the team captain since William Troost-Ekong, who was captain when they got second place in Cote d'Ivoire, retired from international soccer.
This match is super important for us, Ndidi said. It gets things going, so the guys are ready. We've prepped a lot to win this one.
Winning could also take some heat off Chelle, who's 48 and started the job in January.
Ever since I started here, it's been, 'Maybe after this game, you're done,' he said when asked about what might happen to him.
I'm only thinking about the game with Tanzania and my guys.
And yeah, after the Cup of Nations, I'll be meeting with the football federation to talk about everything.
But for now, we're locked in on the first game because it matters most right now. We need to show we're ready to win at this competition, and then we can talk about everything later.
AFCON: SOUTH AFRICA MUST BREAK TWENTY ONE YEAR CURSE AGAINST EGYPT THIS FRIDAY NIGHT
South Africa has only beaten two teams in the group stages since 2004 as they prepare for a massive Egypt test.
Bafana Bafana is looking to keep its momentum going at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. They're playing Egypt in their second Group B game in Agadir this Friday, which will really test both teams' title hopes.
Both Bafana and the Pharaohs won their first games 2-1, against Angola and Zimbabwe, but their wins weren't as convincing as they wanted.
Now, they're facing off in what will probably decide who gets first place in the group. The winner, if there is one, will get a big confidence boost.
But here's a statistic that might worry Bafana fans before the game.
It's been 21 years and 21 group stage games since Bafana beat Benin in their first match at the 2004 Cup of Nations finals. Since then, they've only managed to beat two teams in the group stages.
If you asked any Bafana fan if that's true, they'd probably question it, despite the team's problems recently.
The only wins the team has had in group play since then are a couple of wins against Angola (2013, & 2025) and Namibia (2019, & 2023).
They've played 13 different teams during that period and haven't been able to beat 11 of them.
There have been seven draws and 10 losses, which is way too many losses in what's supposed to be the easiest part of the competition.
They haven't managed to win back-to-back group games during that time (in fact, the Benin win was the last time they did), and their biggest win in the group stages happened in the last edition when they beat Namibia 4-0.
That being said, this bad stretch started with their worst defeat ever, a 4-0 loss to Nigeria in 2004.
But there's reason to believe that this 2025 team, which has grown into a skilled team, can turn things around. If not against Egypt (where a draw would be good), then for sure in their final group match with Zimbabwe on December 29.
Looking at all group matches at the finals since their successful debut in 1996, the record is more balanced. Bafana Bafana has 11 wins, 11 losses, and 12 draws in 34 games, scoring 37 goals and letting in 34.
They've had 12 clean sheets during that time and haven't scored in 12 games.
THE MASSIVE EGYPTIAN RECORD MOHAMED SALAH JUST SMASHED DURING THE ZIMBABWE OPENING MATCH
Mohamed Salah becomes the first Egyptian to score in five straight Afcons after a 91st minute winner against Zimbabwe.
In their opening Africa Cup of Nations match, Mohamed Salah scored in the 91st minute, giving Egypt a win against Zimbabwe.
Salah has now scored in five straight Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, a first for an Egyptian player.
Up next, Egypt will play South Africa and then Angola in their last group stage match.
With a late goal in Monday's 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe, Mohamed Salah became the first Egyptian player to score in five straight African Cup of Nations competitions.
After being benched for four games at Liverpool, Egypt's captain started and scored with his left foot in the 91st minute. This gave the seven-time champions a late victory and a good start in Morocco for Hossam Hassan's team, plus set a record for Egypt.
The Egyptian FA shared on X that national team captain Mohamed Salah is the first Egyptian player to score in five Africa Cup of Nations in a row.
Liverpool's star, who has had trouble getting into the Reds' lineup this season, scored in the 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and now 2025 competitions. He joins Didier Drogba, Abdoulaye Traore, and Yaya Toure from Ivory Coast, and Youssef Msakni, a Tunisian winger, in achieving this.
Salah could score even more since there are two AFCON tournaments scheduled in the next three years, in 2027 and 2028.
If he scores in each one, he'll beat the record held by Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), and Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan (Ghana).
The 33-year-old has scored eight goals in 20 AFCON games. That's four fewer than Hassan El-Shazly, who has the most goals for Egypt in the tournament, and three fewer than his current coach, Hassan.
Egypt plays South Africa on Friday and Angola on December 29. Salah hopes to finally win the Africa Cup after losing in the finals in 2017 and 2021.