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Facts after Super Eagles’ hefty blow on Cote d’Ivoire

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Cameroon, Guinea Sited In Super Eagles Path To Quarter-finals -

Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Thursday beat hosts, Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations to put their dream of winning the trophy again on track. Here are some facts coming out after the encounter.

  • It is the first time since 1967 that the Super Eagles had beaten Côte d’Ivoire in Abidjan.
  • It ended Nigeria’s no-win streak in a chain of five matches.
  • It is the first time in six matches that the Super Eagles had a clean sheet.
  • Côte d’Ivoire are only the second host country to lose in the group stage of a home Africa Cup of Nations in the 21st century, following Equatorial Guinea’s 1-0 defeat to Zambia in 2012.
  • Nigeria have scored at least one goal in 13 of their 14 Africa Cup of Nations group games over the last five editions in which they have participated, only failing to beat Madagascar in 2019 (2-0 defeat). At the same time, the Super Eagles have kept eight clean sheets over this period.
  • 1.6 goals were scored on average in the games between Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, with 11 goals scored in seven matches. This is the co-lowest ratio in a match played at least as many times in the competition (1.6 – 11 goals in 7 games also for Egypt-Morocco).
  • Côte d’Ivoire have conceded a penalty goal in the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2015 and a Dieumerci Mbokani strike for DR Congo. At each of the previous two editions (2019 and 2021), the Elephants conceded a penalty before being saved by their woodworks, each time against Algeria.
  • Goalscorer in the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations, Seko Fofana attempted five shots today against Nigeria, no Côte d’Ivoire player has attempted more in a single match in the competition since Opta began analysing this data (2010).
  • Victor Osimhen played 21 duels today against Côte d’Ivoire, the highest tally of this Africa Cup of Nations 2023. This is the third-highest tally for a Nigeria player at an AFCON since Opta began analysing this data, behind Emmanuel Emenike (25 in 2013) and Paul Onuachu (23 in 2019).

The post Facts after Super Eagles’ hefty blow on Cote d’Ivoire appeared first on .

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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AFCON

Libya’s AFCON dreams go up in flames!

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The hopes of Libya securing a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations ticket seem to have gone up in smoke.  This is the sequel to the 2-1 defeat that Rwanda inflicted on the Benin Republic on Tuesday evening.

With the result, Libya’s position is further cemented at the bottom of the table. Nigeria, even with an outstanding match, still leads with seven points.

They are followed by Benin Republic who have six points. Rwanda followed with five points.

The star men were  Innocent Nshuti and Djihad Bizimana  who scored in the space of two minutes as Rwanda came from behind to defeat Benin 2-1 at Amahoro Stadium on Tuesday, October 15.

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AFCON

Rwanda breaks 12-year jinx in victory over Benin Republic

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FILE PHOTO: Rwanda players celebrate in the dressing room after beating Lesotho 1-0 on Tuesday in Durban, South Africa, to go top of Group C in the ongoing World Cup 2026 qualifiers-courtesy.

Rwanda’s defeat of Benin Republic is not just their first win in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, the victory terminates a 12-year winless streak against the Cheetah of Benin.

It is also a renewal of their hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. But they still have two more games to play.

The German made two changes from the side that started against Benin last week as Samuel Gueulette and Emmanuel Imanishimwe came in for Kevin Muhire and Claude Niyomugabo respectively.

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AFCON

Libya vs Nigeria: CAF lifts the burden off Nigeria

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The press release on Tuesday by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) may have lifted a burden off Nigeria as the match with Libya is considered postponed rather than the Super Eagles refusing to play.

The continental body remarked that the matter would be referred to the competent CAF bodies.

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