Ademola Lookman of Nigeria celebrates goal with teammates during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations AFCON match between Nigeria and Mozambique at Fez Stadium in Fes, Morocco on 05 January 2026 ©Mehrez Toujani/BackpagePix
Friday Jan 09, 2026. 10:24
Someone’s perfect record will come to an end when Algeria and Nigeria lock horns at the Marrakesh Stadium in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 6pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)
The Super Eagles have emerged as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Morocco after winning their opening four matches and scoring the most goals (12).
However, Eric Chelle’s side have only kept one clean sheet thus far – in the round of 16 when they routed Mozambique 4-0 – with Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda all breaching their net in the group stages.
The three-time AFCON champions beat the Taifa Stars 2-1 before being given a scare by the Eagles of Carthage, who scored two goals in the final 16 minutes after finding themselves 3-0 down.
Nigeria then claimed a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Cranes to finish top of Group C, one of just two teams to advance with a perfect record – the other being the Fennecs.
Chelle has emphasised the importance of maintaining their consistency at the African showpiece if the West Africans harbour any hopes of reaching a ninth final.
“I’m happy with the victory, of course, but we have to be honest with ourselves. We have done nothing yet. We have simply won one game,” he said.
“If we want to be ambitious, we must continue to improve and maintain this level of quality on the pitch. Football is about consistency.”
Algeria have shipped just one goal in the tournament – a 3-1 win over Equatorial Guinea after they defeated Sudan 3-0 and Burkina Faso 1-0 in their opening two games.
Vladimir Petkovic’s side needed 120 minutes to get past DR Congo in the round of 16, with Adil Boulbina scoring a dramatic winner in the 119th minute as penalties loomed large.
The two countries have met nine times on Africa’s biggest stage: the Fennecs have come out on top four times, one more than the Super Eagles, while they’ve shared the spoils on two occasions.