MATCH FACTS: Nigeria and Senegal renew rivalry in TotalEnergies CAF U20 AFCON quarter-final
Nigeria and Senegal are set to clash again in a continuation of their growing rivalry, meeting for the fourth time at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in their quarter-final at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia on Monday (kick-off 15:00 local time / 12:00 GMT).
Nigeria, runners-up in Group B, will face defending champions Senegal, who finished second in Group C.
The teams previously met at the finals in 2015 and 2023. In 2015, they faced off twice – in the group stage and the final – both matches won by Nigeria. In 2023, Senegal edged Nigeria 1-0 in their opening group game. Overall, Nigeria have two wins from their three previous encounters, while Senegal have one.
Each time these teams have met at the tournament, the winner has gone on to claim the title. Nigeria defeated Senegal 3-1 in the 2015 group stage, with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring in the 9th and 12th minutes. Sidy Sarr pulled one back in the 27th, before Ifeanyi William sealed the win in the 43rd minute.
The two met again in the final, where Bernard Bulbwa’s 17th-minute goal secured Nigeria's seventh title. In 2023, Senegal began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Nigeria, courtesy of Souleymane Faye's 40th-minute strike, and eventually won the tournament.
This will be the fourth time Nigeria face defending champions in the tournament’s history. Previously, they lost 4-1 to Ghana in the 2001 group stage, beat them 2-1 in 2011, and defeated Egypt 2-0 in the 2005 final. On both occasions when they beat the defending champions (2005 and 2011), Nigeria went on to win the title.
Nigeria have struggled recently against fellow West African teams, losing 1-0 to both Senegal (group stage) and Gambia (semi-final) in 2023, and to Mali on penalties in the 2019 semi-finals following a 1-1 draw. Their last win against a West African opponent came in a 1-0 victory over Niger in 2019.
Senegal, on the other hand, were unbeaten in eight matches against West African opposition before losing 1-0 to Ghana in their second group match of the current tournament (W7 D1).
Both teams have scored just three goals in their three group matches. Nigeria's shot conversion rate stands at 10%, while Senegal’s is slightly lower at 7.89%. Among all quarter-finalists, only Egypt have a lower rate (7.14%).
NIGERIA FACTS
· Nigeria progressed through the group stage undefeated, opening with a 1-0 win over Tunisia, followed by a 0-0 draw with Morocco and a 2-2 draw with Kenya. This is the sixth time Nigeria have remained unbeaten in the group stage.
· The draw with Kenya marked Nigeria's 100th match at the finals – the first team to reach this milestone.
· In 13 tournament appearances with a group stage format, Nigeria have reached the knockout rounds 11 times, including the last nine tournaments in which they have participated.
· They aim to reach the semi-finals for the 17th time and have never lost a quarterfinal match, winning all seven played under the current format. Their most recent quarterfinal win came in 2023, a 1-0 victory over Uganda.
· The only times Nigeria failed to reach the semi-finals were in 1993 and 2001.
· Nigeria have participated in three penalty shootouts at the finals. They won 5-3 against Morocco in the 2005 semi-finals after a 2-2 draw. However, they lost both shootouts in 2019 – to Mali in the semi-finals after a 1-1 draw, and to South Africa in the third-place match following a goalless draw.
· Against Kenya, Nigeria conceded twice – the first time they had let in two goals in a match since a 2-2 draw with Côte d’Ivoire in 2015. Between those matches, they conceded just twice in 15 games, keeping 13 clean sheets.
· Prior to the Kenya match, they had three consecutive clean sheets – one in the 2023 third-place playoff win over Tunisia, and two in the current tournament.
· Emmanuel Chukwu had a standout performance against Kenya, recording the most touches (79), attempted passes (63), and completed passes (49) in the match.
SENEGAL FACTS
· Senegal began the tournament with a 1-1 draw against the Central African Republic, followed by a 1-0 loss to Ghana, and closed the group stage with a 2-0 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo.
· That win was their first at the current finals, also marking their first clean sheet and the first time they scored more than once in a game this edition.
· Senegal have now lost just once in their last 14 matches at the finals in open play, a defeat to Zambia in the 2017 final (W11 D2). They have won 14 of their last 19 matches overall at the finals, with just two losses – to Zambia in 2017 and Ghana in the current tournament.
· In their last 13 wins at the finals, Senegal have kept 12 clean sheets, conceding only once – in a 5-1 win over Burkina Faso in 2019. This marks the fifth consecutive tournament in which they have progressed beyond the group stage (2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, and 2025), and they are aiming to reach the semi-finals for a fifth time.
· Senegal have only played one previous quarterfinal, a 1-0 win over Benin in 2023. They have never lost a direct knockout match at the finals, winning five out of five, including semi-final victories over Mali (2-1), Guinea (1-0), South Africa (1-0), Benin (1-0), and Tunisia (3-0).
· Their only penalty shootout came in the 2019 final against Mali, which they lost 3-2 after a 1-1 draw.
· Among the current quarterfinalists, Senegal and Nigeria have conceded the joint second-fewest goals (2), with only Ghana conceding fewer (1).
· In their 2-0 win over DRC, Cheikh Thiam scored in the 11th minute and Ibrahima Dieng converted a penalty in the 87th. Thiam has now scored twice in the tournament, having also netted in the opening draw against the Central African Republic.
· Goalkeeper Mouhamed Sissokho kept his first clean sheet of the tournament in that match, making three saves – his highest in a single game.