{"id":882506,"date":"2026-01-02T02:17:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/02\/confirmed-who-will-the-super-eagles-play-in-r16-of-afcon-2025\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T02:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:17:03","slug":"confirmed-who-will-the-super-eagles-play-in-r16-of-afcon-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/02\/confirmed-who-will-the-super-eagles-play-in-r16-of-afcon-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Confirmed: Who will the Super Eagles play in R16 of AFCON 2025?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Eric Chelle and Super Eagles players.
\nCopyright: Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Super Eagles<\/a> of Nigeria have learnt their opponents for the Round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The OS Mambas of Mozambique are set to stand between Eric Chelle\u2019s side and a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

Nigeria booked their passage into the knockout rounds after a flawless Group C campaign, winning all three matches against Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.<\/p>\n

\n

Knockout time. The final 16 of the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/A7IF2aBU6G<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The three-time African champions now return to the familiar surroundings of the 35,000-capacity Complexe Sportif de F\u00e8s, where they will face Mozambique in a last-16 encounter of the AFCON 2025<\/a> scheduled for Monday, 5 January, with kick-off set for 8 pm.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
AFCON 2025 standout: Raphael Onyedika. Photo Credit: CAF X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having already secured qualification early, Nigeria rotated their squad in the final group game against Uganda but still cruised to a 3\u20131 win. This shows a strong Chelle\u2019s squad as they head into the knockout phase.<\/p>\n

Soccer How Nigeria vs Mozambique was decided<\/h2>\n

Nigeria finished top of Group C with maximum points, sealing their place in the Round of 16 with wins over Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda. Their perfect group run ensured a favourable draw in the knockout bracket.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Paul Onuachu, Victor Osimhen, Raphael Onyedika. Copyright: IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mozambique, meanwhile, qualified as one of the teams advancing from their group after a mixed set of results. They opened their campaign with a defeat to defending champions C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, bounced back with a crucial 3-2 win over Gabon, and then fell 2\u20131 to Cameroon\u2019s Indomitable Lions in their final group match.<\/p>\n

That combination of results was enough to book their place in the last 16 and set up a meeting with Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Soccer Head-to-head: Nigeria vs Mozambique<\/h2>\n

Historically, Nigeria have enjoyed the upper hand in this fixture. The Super Eagles have won four of the five previous meetings between the two nations.<\/p>\n

Their only AFCON encounter came during the 2010 tournament in Angola, where Nigeria claimed a dominant 3\u20130 victory in Lubango.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Copyright: Imago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nigeria also won a friendly in Maputo in August 1999 by a single goal and edged Mozambique 3\u20132 in another friendly played in Portugal in October 2023.<\/p>\n

The two sides also crossed paths during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, drawing 0\u20130 in Maputo before Nigeria secured a dramatic 1\u20130 win in Abuja, with Obinna Nsofor scoring deep into added time to keep Nigeria\u2019s World Cup hopes alive.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Obafemi Martins of Nigeria celebrates his goal with John Obi Mikel, Obinna Nsofor during the African Nations Cup match between Nigeria and Mozambique. Copyright: imago\/Gallo Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Confidence is high within the camp following their strong group-stage performances, but Mozambique will be keen to upset the favourites in Fes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Ayomide Oguntimehin” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ayomide-Oguntimehin-pics-150×150.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Editor at Soccernet.ng. He has interviewed Super Eagles stars like William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Ademola Lookman, and is known for breaking major transfer stories.<\/p>\n

Ayomide has worked with Sports Brief, Naija News and served as Social Lead Editor at Legit.ng. He has also featured on Goal, TVC News, Sports Mole, and Milan News24. He holds a Master\u2019s degree and is currently pursuing a PhD. Follow Ayomide on X (formerly Twitter): @ayo_oguntimehin\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Eric Chelle and Super Eagles players. Copyright: Imago The Super Eagles of Nigeria have learnt their opponents for the Round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.\u00a0 The OS Mambas of Mozambique are set to stand between Eric Chelle\u2019s side and a place in the quarter-finals. Nigeria booked their passage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":882507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1786,2005,4578],"tags":[9150,6323],"class_list":{"0":"post-882506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-confirmed","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-super","10":"tag-confirmed","11":"tag-super"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}