Ademola Lookman says Nigeria’s confidence continues to build at the Africa Cup of Nations, with the Super Eagles “improving every single game” as they prepare to face Algeria’s Desert Foxes — the 2019 champions — on Saturday in Marrakech.

The Atalanta forward has been Nigeria’s most influential player at the tournament and was again central to their attacking play, earning his second Man of the Match award.

Lookman has now registered three goals and five assists at this AFCON, taking his overall Africa Cup of Nations tally to seven goals.

“It’s been great,” Lookman said after their last match. “The team is improving every single game. It’s all goals today, so that’s positive for us.”

Operating in a fluid attacking trio, Lookman has combined effectively with Akor Adams and Victor Osimhen, helping Nigeria maintain a constant threat in the final third.

Despite a brief verbal exchange with Osimhen in the previous match, Lookman was quick to dismiss any suggestion of tension within the squad.

“Nothing happened, just a discussion on the pitch. That’s it,” he said. “In football, these things happen, and you move on.”

Asked whether such moments can strengthen the team, Lookman again played down their significance.

“I don’t know what the big issue is,” he added. “These things happen in football and you move on.”

Lookman says the responsibility of wearing the national colours continues to drive his performances.

“I get the opportunity to represent my country, and I know how much weight that bears,” he told reporters. “So I try to use that pressure and try to perform.”

With the Super Eagles now firmly focused on Saturday’s quarter-final against the Desert Foxes, Lookman is expecting a stern examination against one of the continent’s most experienced sides.

“The quarterfinals of the AFCON is something to look forward to,” he said. “Another big battle awaits us, so we need to be ready.”

He also highlighted the physical and tactical demands of the competition.

“Everyone is physically strong,” Lookman explained. “It’s about meeting them on the field, being intelligent, and being ready.”

“Same mentality from the team,” he said. “Same mentality to win, to be aggressive on the ball.”

Lookman offered words of encouragement to supporters and those facing challenges beyond the tournament.

“Keep on focusing, keep on believing in yourself,” he said. “Good things will come.”

Nigeria will once again look to Lookman’s inspiration as they chase a place in the AFCON semi-finals against the team that defeated them in 2019 in Egypt. 

-Cafonline

By Sola Fanawopo, Fes

I dedicate today’s Observatory to our guys on the touchline—the African coaches, breaking the glass ceiling with authority and results at AFCON 2025. Take your flowers. You are representing.

AFCON 2025 is doing something African football has struggled to achieve for decades: it is winning an argument without raising its voice.

As the tournament reaches the crucial phases in Morocco, attention naturally gravitates toward star players and dramatic score lines.

Yet the deeper story—the one that will outlive goals and trophies—is unfolding on the touchlines. For the first time in decades, African coaches are not merely present at the Africa Cup of Nations; they are the dominant force shaping it.

At the Africa Cup of Nations 2025, 13 of the 24 teams are led by African head coaches, while 11 are managed by foreign tacticians. That numerical shift alone marks a historic correction. But numbers only matter when they perform—and African coaches are not filling slots. They are setting the tone, the pace, and the psychology of the tournament.

AFCON Is an Ecosystem, not a Theory Class

AFCON has always punished rigid thinking. It is not a laboratory for ideal football models; it is an ecosystem defined by climate, emotion, compressed recovery cycles, refereeing rhythms, and the weight of national expectation. This was precisely why African federations once believed only European coaches could “study” and master the tournament’s complexity.

AFCON 2025 has exposed the flaw in that logic.

African coaches do not analyse this ecosystem from the outside. They are shaped by it. Their teams are built to survive turbulence, absorb pressure, manage transitions, and win moments rather than possession statistics. AFCON does not ask who dominated the ball—it asks who dominated the moment.

Trust Has Changed Hands

One of the most revealing images of the tournament came during Nigeria’s group-stage match against Uganda. Victor Osimhen, Africa’s most recognisable striker, sprinted to the touchline during an injury stoppage to receive tactical instructions from his African coach.

It was a simple act—but a profound one.

This is the quiet psychological revolution of AFCON 2025. African players—many raised in Europe’s elite academies—no longer see African coaches as stopgap appointments. They see authority, clarity, and cultural understanding. Trust has become discipline. Discipline has become execution. The evidence is visible in compact defending, tactical obedience, and emotional control under pressure.

Institutional Memory as a Competitive Weapon

African coaches also arrive with something rarely acknowledged in global football analysis: institutional memory.

They understand federation politics, logistical uncertainty, late disruptions, and the emotional weight of national expectation. They plan not only for opponents, but for chaos. Foreign coaches often encounter these realities for the first time at AFCON. African coaches have already adapted to them.

That difference does not always show in possession charts—but it shows in knockout matches.

The Cote d’Ivoire Moment That Changed Everything

The philosophical turning point did not begin in Morocco. It began at the Africa Cup of Nations 2023.

Cote ‘Ivoire started that tournament under a French coach, Jean-Louis Gasset. After two matches marked by tactical confusion and emotional disconnection, he was dismissed. The federation turned inward and appointed Emerse Faé.

What followed was not a miracle. It was an alignment.

Tactical clarity returned. Confidence surged. The dressing room reconnected with the nation. Cote d’Ivoire went on to win the AFCON, collapsing a decades-old argument that African coaches needed foreign supervision to succeed.  AFCON 2025 is the harvest of that lesson.

A New African Coaching Identity

From Walid Regragui on home soil, to Éric Chelle with Nigeria, to Pape Thiaw, a clear archetype has emerged: African-rooted, tactically educated, emotionally intelligent, and globally competent.

CAF licensing reforms, years of assistantship under foreign managers, and accumulated tournament experience have finally converged. African coaches are no longer imitating Europe. They are interpreting Africa—and winning with it.

The Verdict—and the Next Test

African coaches are not dominating AFCON 2025 because Africa suddenly became generous to its own. They are dominating because the tournament now rewards what they have always mastered: context, adaptability, authority, and emotional intelligence.

AFCON 2025 is not an upset. It is a recalibration.

The next question is unavoidable: When will European clubs trust African coaches the same way AFCON now does?

If football truly believes the world is flat, then opportunity must finally follow performance. African coaching is no longer catching up. It is setting the terms.

Sola Fanawopo is a journalist and Chairman Osun Football Association writes from Morocco

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Yasser Ibrahim’s superb header and Mohamed Salah’s breakaway strike earned record seven-time champions Egypt a hard-fought 3-1 extra-time victory over Benin in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 on Monday.

Egypt led after 69 minutes through a brilliant 25-metre strike from Marwan Attia, but Benin forced the game into an additional 30 minutes when they equalised late on through Jodel Dossou.

Defender Ibrahim scored his first international goal on 97 minutes when he met Attia’s cross with a header from 15 yards that looped into the top corner of the net, and Salah raced clear to add the third with the last kick of the game.

“It was a very difficult match, Benin are a tough opponent,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said. “We are mentally prepared to play for 90 minutes or extra time. I have confidence in my team and my staff, especially the medical team, for a proper recovery of the players before the next match.”

Benin’s energy and never-say-die spirit stood up well to Egypt’s more composed artistry.

Omar Marmoush was put through one-on-one with Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou but delayed his shot too long and the gloveman was able to make the save at his feet.

Egypt went closer when Marmoush poked the loose ball goalwards but defender Yohan Roche cleared the ball off the line.

ATTIA ON TARGET

Egypt finally broke the deadlock when the ball came to Attia outside the box and he curled his shot into the top corner.

Benin equalised with eight minutes remaining in normal time though and there was a touch of good fortune about it.

Junior Olaitan’s cross from the right took a wicked deflection off Ahmed Fatouh and although Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy made a superb save, Dossou bundled the ball over the line from close range.

After Ibrahim had restored Egypt’s advantage, Salah raced clear in the 124th minute and produced a typically composed finish as he beat the back-pedalling keeper from 25 metres.

“When you take the individual talents of the Egyptians, it’s not the same (as Benin),” Benin coach Gernot Rohr said. “Especially since our best striker (Steve Mounie) was missing. In a match like this, he would have helped us a lot.”

Egypt left back Mohamed Hamdi was substituted at halftime, and his coach Hassan said he may have suffered a serious knee injury.

Egypt will face defending champions Cote d’Ivoire or Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals in Agadir on Saturday.

-Reuters

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