AFCON 2025: NFF Confirms Next Plans for Super Eagles After Lookman-Osimhen Rift
- The Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed the next plans for the Super Eagles at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
- Nigeria’s 4-0 win over Mozambique in the Round of 16 of the tournament was tainted by an on-pitch incident
- Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman clashed, but the NFF confirmed that the situation has been resolved
The Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed the next plans for the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after the resolution of the spat between Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
Osimhen’s heated exchange with Lookman overshadowed the brilliant 4-0 win over Mozambique and the great job done by Eric Chelle and his team.
Source: Getty Images
The Galatasaray forward escalated the incident by refusing to join his teammates’ huddle at full time and went into the bus without granting any interview.
Nigerians criticised his attitude and called for the NFF to suspend him from the team as a deterrent to such actions repeating themselves in the future.
Head coach Eric Chelle maintained that the issue would be dealt with internally, while captain Wilfred Ndidi reacted, claiming it was nothing beyond an on-pitch expression.
Lookman downplayed the incident, while other senior team members, including Moses Simon and Chidozie Awaziem, assured the fans that it had been resolved.
NFF confirms plans for Super Eagles
The NFF has confirmed that the incident, which was described as a “crisis between brothers,” has been resolved, and there is no internal turmoil in the team, as reported in the media.
CAF confirmed Algeria as Nigeria’s quarter-final opponent on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, after the Desert Foxes defeated DR Congo in the Round of 16.
NFF had earlier confirmed that the Super Eagles did not stop working while waiting for their next opponent to be confirmed and had a recovery and conditioning session on Tuesday.
The team will have their final training session in Fez on Wednesday, before moving to Marrakech on Thursday, where they will face Algeria on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Source: Twitter
26 players took part in the sessions, excluding Ryan Alebiosu, who is rehabilitating from his leg injury, and Cyriel Dessers, who left the team’s camp and returned to Greece after a serious thigh injury.
Akor Adams, who briefly left the team’s camp to visit his ailing mother at the hospital in Fez, returned in time for the team’s training sessions.
Eric Chelle and his team have a difficult task at hand against the North African team, which eliminated Nigeria in the semi-final at AFCON 2019.
Algeria has the best defence and has conceded only one goal, with first-choice goalkeeper Luca Zidane yet to concede, while Nigeria has the best attack with 12 goals scored.
Full list of AFCON 2025 quarter-final teams
Legit.ng reported the full list of qualified teams for AFCON 2025 quarter-final after defending champions Cote d'Ivoire picked up the final spot.
The remaining eight teams left in the tournament have all won the tournament before, excluding the Eagles of Mali, which have been finalists twice.
Proofreading by Omoleye Omoruyi, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
