MATCH STATS: Nigeria vs Tunisia – TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Group C
Winners in their opening matches, Nigeria and Tunisia will be aiming to secure qualification to the knockout stage when they meet in their second Group C fixture at the Complexe Sportif de Fes in Fes. Kick-off is at 21h00 local time (20h00 GMT).
Nigeria enter the match following a 2–1 victory over Tanzania, while Tunisia began their campaign with a 3–1 win against Uganda.
The first meeting between the two sides dates back to 1961, when they contested a two-legged tie in qualifying for the 1962 Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria won the home leg 2–1, but in the return match in Tunisia, Nigeria walked off the pitch in protest with the score at 2–2. Tunisia were awarded a 2–0 victory, qualifying on a 3–2 aggregate score.
Nigeria and Tunisia have met in qualifying for four different FIFA World Cup tournaments: 1978, 1982, 1986 and 2010.
In qualification for the 1978 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria and Tunisia met in the final round of qualifying as part of a three-team round-robin group that also included Egypt. Tunisia were held to a 0–0 draw by Nigeria at home before defeating the Super Eagles 1–0 in Lagos to top the group and qualify for the World Cup.
During qualification for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Tunisia and Nigeria met in the first round, with both sides winning their home matches 2–0. Nigeria won the tie via a 4–3 penalty shootout, although neither side qualified for the finals in Spain.
In qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the teams met in a two-legged third-round tie. Nigeria won 1–0 at home, while Tunisia won 2–0 in Tunis to advance 2–1 on aggregate to the final qualifying round, although they failed to qualify for the tournament.
After meeting in qualifying for three consecutive FIFA World Cups (1978, 1982 and 1986), Tunisia and Nigeria were again drawn together in the third round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which also served as qualification for the 2010 AFCON.
Nigeria topped the group and secured World Cup qualification after two draws: 0–0 in Tunisia and 2–2 in Nigeria. Tunisia finished one point behind Nigeria in second place and qualified for the 2010 AFCON.
Nigeria and Tunisia have met six times previously at the Africa Cup of Nations finals. Nigeria have recorded three wins to Tunisia’s one, with two matches ending level in 2004 and 2006, both decided by penalty shoot-outs, one win apiece.
They first met at the AFCON finals in 1978, contesting the third-place play-off. Nigeria were awarded a 2–0 victory after Tunisia walked off the field with the score at 1–1.
The sides met again in the opening group match of the 2000 AFCON, with Nigeria winning 4–2, although both teams progressed from the group stage. Tunisia head coach Sami Trabelsi featured for Tunisia in that Group D match in Lagos on 23 January 2000.
As hosts in 2004, Tunisia met Nigeria in the semi-finals. Jay-Jay Okocha scored for Nigeria before Khaled Badra equalised for Tunisia. The match ended 1–1, with Tunisia winning 5–3 on penalties.
In 2006, the teams met in the quarter-finals. Victor Obinna scored for Nigeria and Karim Haggui equalised for Tunisia in a 1–1 draw, before Nigeria won 6–5 on penalties.
They met in the third-place play-off at the 2019 AFCON, with Nigeria winning 1–0 thanks to an early goal from Odion Ighalo.
Their most recent meeting came at the 2021 AFCON, where Tunisia won a Round of 16 encounter 1–0, with Youssef Msakni scoring the only goal in the 47th minute.
PAST MEETINGS
OVERALL
Nigeria: P21 W5 D10 L6 GF21 GA26 GD-5
Tunisia: P21 W6 D10 L5 GF26 GA21 GD+5
AFCON ONLY
Nigeria: P6 W3 D2 L1 GF9 GA5 GD+4
Tunisia: P6 W1 D2 L3 GF5 GA9 GD-4
· Nigeria awarded the match in 1978
· Tunisia won the 2004 semi-final on penalties
· Nigeria won the 2006 quarter-final on penalties
PAST AFCON MEETINGS
16.03.1978, Accra (Third place)Awarded 2–0 to Nigeria
Tunisia walked off in the 42nd minute with the score at 1–1
23.01.2000, Lagos (Group stage)
Nigeria 4 Tunisia 2
11.02.2004, Radès (Semi-final)
Tunisia 1 Nigeria 1
(Tunisia won 5–3 on penalties)
04.02.2006, Port Said (Quarter-final)
Nigeria 1 Tunisia 1
(Nigeria won 6–5 on penalties)
17.07.2019, Cairo (Third-place play-off)
Tunisia 0 Nigeria 1 (Ighalo 3’)
23.01.2022, Garoua (Round of 16)
Nigeria 0 Tunisia 1 (Msakni 47’)
Nigeria – Key Statistics
· Nigeria began with a 2–1 win over Tanzania.
· They have now opened an AFCON finals campaign with a win for the 14th time.
· Nigeria are unbeaten in their last seven AFCON group matches (W6 D1); their last group-stage defeat was against Madagascar in 2019.
· They have won their last three AFCON group matches, all by a single-goal margin.
· Nigeria last began an AFCON with successive wins in 2021 and also won their opening two matches in 2019.
· They have lost just one of their last 15 group-stage matches at AFCON, a 2–0 defeat to Madagascar in 2019.
· Nigeria have scored in their last seven AFCON group matches.
· They have failed to score in only two of their last 26 AFCON matches: against Madagascar in 2019 and against Tunisia in the 2021 Round of 16.
· Semi Ajayi scored his first AFCON goal against Tanzania in his 10th appearance at the finals.
· Ademola Lookman scored the winning goal against Tanzania, his fourth at AFCON.
· Lookman’s strike from outside the penalty area made him the first Nigerian to score from range at AFCON since Emmanuel Emenike in the 2013 semi-final against Mali.
· Alex Iwobi recorded two assists against Tanzania, his first assists at AFCON in his 19th appearance.
· Iwobi has now created 18 chances at AFCON.
· Victor Osimhen attempted seven shots against Tanzania, the most by a Nigerian in an AFCON match since Victor Obinna against Algeria in the 2010 third-place match.
· Six of Nigeria’s last eight group-stage wins at AFCON have been by a single goal, including five 1–0 victories.
· Nigeria have scored in 13 of their last 14 AFCON matches.
· They completed 451 of 501 passes against Tanzania.
· Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey each completed 71 passes, the most in the match.
· Nigeria registered 11 shots on target against Tanzania, with Osimhen recording the most (3).
· Samuel Chukwueze attempted 10 dribbles against Tanzania, completing six successfully.
Tunisia – Key Statistics
· Tunisia began with a 3–1 victory over Uganda.
· Ellyes Skhiri scored Tunisia’s opening goal, which was their 100th at AFCON finals.
· Tunisia became the sixth nation to score 100 goals at AFCON, with Algeria later becoming the seventh.
· Skhiri’s goal after 10 minutes means only Egypt (22) and Nigeria (16) have scored more AFCON goals than Tunisia (12) inside the opening 10 minutes of matches.
· It was the first time Tunisia had scored in the first 10 minutes of their tournament opener since Issam Jemâa against Senegal in 2008.
· Skhiri scored his first AFCON goal in his 16th appearance at the finals.
· His header was Tunisia’s first headed goal at AFCON since Ahmed Akaïchi against Equatorial Guinea in 2015.
· Elias Achouri scored the fourth and fifth goals of his international career.
· Achouri became the first Tunisian to score twice in an AFCON match since Wahbi Khazri against Mauritania in 2021.
· The win over Uganda ended a four-match winless run at AFCON for Tunisia (D2 L2).
· It also ended a four-match winless run in AFCON group-stage matches, their previous win coming against Mauritania in 2021.
· Tunisia won their opening match at AFCON for the first time since 2013, having failed to do so in their previous five tournament openers.
· They have only started an AFCON with two consecutive wins on three previous occasions: 2004, 2006 and 2012.
· Tunisia last opened with successive wins at AFCON in 2012, defeating Morocco and Niger 2–1.
· Tunisia are unbeaten in their second group match in each of their last five AFCON appearances (W3 D2).
· They last lost their second group match in 2013, a 3–0 defeat to Côte d’Ivoire.
· That defeat is their only loss in the same group match across their last 11 AFCON appearances (W8 D2).
· The last time Tunisia won their opening match and failed to progress to the knockout stage was in 2013.
· Hannibal Mejbri, who assisted Tunisia’s opening goal against Uganda, created four chances, the most in the match.
· Montassar Talbi attempted the most passes (51) and completed the most (48) against Uganda.