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LIVE: AFCON 2025 3rd Place Playoff – 17 January 2026
Moses Simon of Nigeria challenges Hamdy Fathy of Egypt during 2025 Africa Cup of Nations 3rd and 4th place playoff match between Egypt and Nigeria on the 17 January 2026 at Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca ©Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Saturday Jan 17, 2026. 20:18
Join AfricanFootball.com for LIVE updates from all 52 matches of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, as 24 teams battle for glory in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January.
Today’s match:
18h00 – Egypt (2) 0-0 (4) Nigeria – Match Centre
Updates:
The tournament will conclude on Sunday with host Morocco looking to best Senegal on home soil at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat to lift the title for the first time since 1976.
A strong campaign from Egypt comes to an end, as Salah and his men head home empty handed.
Penalty shootout: 4-2. Lookman nets Nigeria’s final penalty to secure the bronze medal for the Super Eagles. They have now won all eight of their appearances in the third place play-off. Egypt head home without a spot on the podium.
Egypt 2-3 Nigeria. Iwobi withstands Shobeir’s gamesmanship to put Nigeria in the driving seat. Mahmoud Saber thrashes the ball into the top corner.
Egypt 1-2 Nigeria. Captain Moses Simon strokes the ball into the bottom right corner. Rami Rabia scores to keep Egypt alive
Egypt 0-1 Nigeria. Adams sends the goalkeeper the wrong way. Nwabali produces a second save with his legs, denying Omar Marmoush
Penalty shootout: 0-0. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru fails to score the first penalty, his strike resulting in an easy save for Shobeir. Salah’s effort to give Egypt the lead is denied by Nwabali’s strong right hand
90+7’ – Full time: Egypt 0-0 Nigeria. The third place play-off ends goalless after regulation time for a third time in 33 occasions at the tournament. We are headed for a penalty shootout in Casablanca to decide the bronze medal winner.
88’ – Salah squanders a free-kick opportunity from a dangerous distance, sending his strike into the wall.
75’ – Both sides are struggling to create threatening chances as the fixture looks increasingly like it is headed for a penalty shootout.
65’ – Alex Iwobi is introduced, replacing the injured right-back Bright Osayi-Samuel to add some attacking flair for the Super Eagles.
60’ – The midfield battle continues as both side are showing goal-scoring intent. It remains 0-0.
46’ – Nigeria have another goal disallowed, this time for an offside infringement. Adams did not time his run correctly to receive Samuel Chukwueze’s ball and Lookman’s second chance strike is discounted.
46’ – Egypt kick-off to start the second half in Casablanca. Ademola Lookman comes on for Onuachu to provide a spark up front for the Super Eagles
50’ – Halftime: Egypt 0-0 Nigeria. An evenly matched first half ends goalless after Nigeria’s goal was disallowed. With no extra-time, both teams will be pushing for a winner in the second period to avoid a penalty shootout.
39’ – Nigeria are denied the opening goal after a quick VAR check. Paul Onuachu is given a yellow card for elbowing his defender, albeit unintentionally.
27’ – Egypt have shown more attacking initiative in the past 10 minutes, but have still failed to register a shot.
13’ – The only shot of the game so far comes from Akor Adams, whose effort from the right side of the box is deflected by Ramy Rabia, making for an easy save for Egyptian goalkeeper Oufa Shobeir.
8’ – We are back underway after a delay in play after Mohamad Lasheen destroyed the corner flag in an attempt to keep the ball going behind for a corner.
1’ We are underway in Casablanca.
The Pharaohs are appearing in the tournament’s third place play-off for the sixth time, having won three and lost two in their previous appearances.
The Super Eagles enter the fixture on the back of a historic performance having scored 14 goals at the finals, their highest tally at any AFCON. They boast a perfect record in third-place games, having played in seven and won seven.
The Super Eagles will be without defensive stalwart Calvin Bassey, who is suspended after picking up a third yellow card at the tournament in Nigeria’s semi-final. In addition, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen have all been omitted from the starting line-up.
While Egypt’s captain and leader Mohamed Salah starts, Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush falls out of the Pharaohs’ starting 11.
This will be the 21st meeting between the two nations and the 10th at the continental showpiece. The Super Eagles hold the historical advantage with five wins to the Pharaohs two and two matches drawn in past AFCON tournaments.
Egypt and Nigeria are ready to battle for third place in the penultimate game of the 2025 AFCON at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.
Starting line-ups:
Egypt: O. Shobeir, M. Hany, R. Rabia, H. Fathy, K. Sobhi, M. Lasheen, A. Sayed, M. Salah, E. Ashour, Trézéguet, M. Mohamed
Nigeria: S. Nwabali, B. Onyemaechi, I. Ogbu, S. Ajayi, B. Osayi-Samuel, F. Dele-Bashiru, R. Onyedika, S. Chukwueze, M. Simon, P. Onuachu, A. Adams
Former West Ham, QPR and Czech Republic goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko has died at the age of 64.
Miklosko made almost 400 appearances for the Hammers from 1990 to 1998 and was much loved by supporters, who regularly sang his name long after he left the club.
He later returned as a goalkeeping coach.
Miklosko withdrew from cancer treatment in December 2024, three years after his diagnosis.
Days later he returned to West Ham’s London Stadium for a Premier League match against Liverpool to a hero’s reception.
A West Ham statement read: “It is with deep and profound sadness that West Ham United announces the passing of legendary former goalkeeper and coach, Luděk Miklosko.
“Rest in peace Ludek, our beloved, inspirational goalkeeper and gentle giant of a man.”
More to follow.
Going into the 2026 season, few people would have backed Zverev to win two Grand Slam tournaments, with the German having already lost three major finals in a career which looked in danger of not living up to expectation.
But injuries to his biggest rivals – Alcaraz missing the French Open and Wimbledon, with Sinner ruled out of the US Open – opened the door for Zverev.
A below-par Zverev scraped through the opening rounds at Flushing Meadows in a series of early-morning finishes, but he gradually improved over a fortnight where he did not play a top-20 opponent until Shelton.
Zverev had not lost to Shelton in their five previous meetings and immediately capitalised on a nervy start by his opponent.
Shelton double-faulted on break point in the first game of the match, handing over the type of initiative that opponents often struggle to wrestle back from Zverev.
Through the strength of his first serve, and his ability to unpick Shelton’s weaker backhand in the baseline exchanges, Zverev rolled through the opening set and clinched it when Shelton hit another double fault on set point.
Zverev continued to patiently draw mistakes from Shelton in the second set, but without being gifted a break when his only opportunity arrived in the fourth game.
He instead showed why he has a strong tie-break record with another nerveless display and, unlike in the 2020 US Open final when he lost from a two-set lead, kept his composure in the pressure moments to secure a commanding victory.
Addressing his team which is led by his father Alexander senior and brother Mischa, Zverev said: “We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now won two in the span of three months.
“I think God has seen how hard we have worked, how hard we have suffered and how much pain we went through.
“I think 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before.”
With Haaland’s goal settling the match, United were unsurprisingly disappointed by the decision.
“I think it was offside,” said Martinez. “And what I can’t understand is the rules. I want to be calm now, I want to control myself.
“It’s so hard because you lose a derby, you lose three points at home, and every season they’re [referees] coming to our club, they explain for one hour the rules, and they look so confident with that, and then after [there are] five or six people doing these kind of mistakes in the Premier League – it’s unacceptable.
“It’s the best league in the world, you have the best teams in the world, the best players in the world, and now we have to go home with this injustice.”
United boss Carrick also expressed his confusion.
“We put things in place in the game now, we have people in offices with all the screens for this decision,” he said.
“It’s more worrying about if that’s the interpretation of football now. If that’s the interpretation of not interfering in the game now, that’s really worrying for me. It’s a staggering explanation.
“The decision isn’t going to change the season, but it’s had a major impact on the game.”
Wayne Rooney, part of the BBC’s MOTD2 team, said: “Surely it’s offside. Martinez is impacted by Fernandez’s movement, and he is offside.”
Gary Neville said on Sky Sports: “I think we’ll see some sort of apology from the referee’s association, there’s no doubt Fernandez is playing that ball and is trying to put off Martinez. I think it’s one they’ll recognising they got wrong.”
Micah Richards added: “I think it’s been a bad day for referees. They got the Foden decision wrong and the Fernandez decision wrong. I think they got it so wrong but I don’t think it takes anything away from City’s performance.”
Meanwhile, City boss Maresca said: “I think it was onside clearly so it’s good.”
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