Egypt 0-0 Nigeria (2-4 pens): Nwabali penalty heroics clinch third place at AFCON

Stanley Nwabali saved two penalties, setting up Ademola Lookman to score Nigeria’s winner in a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Egypt and seal third place at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria had two goals disallowed in normal time, but despite being held to a 0-0 draw, they kept their composure from 12 yards to take home the bronze medal.

Akor Adams saw a tame early shot deflected neatly into Mostafa Shobeir’s gloves, while at the other end, Mohamed Salah’s poked effort was smothered at close range by Nwabali.

Adams then thought he had given Nigeria the lead in the 36th minute as he deflected Samuel Chukwueze’s header past the wrong-footed Shobeir, but it was disallowed for a foul on Hamdi Fathy in the build-up.

Lookman also nodded the ball into an empty net, but Adams had been offside when he forced Shobeir into a save just 18 seconds after the break.

Raphael Onyedika and Moses Simon also had long-range shots kept out as Nigeria upped the pressure without any reward in regulation time.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Salah both had penalties saved at the start of the shoot-out, but Nigeria were on form from then on, scoring their remaining four.

Omar Marmoush was also denied by Nwabali when he went straight down the middle, and it was Lookman’s emphatic drive from 12 yards which proved decisive.

Stanley Nwabali Appreciation Tweet pic.twitter.com/VRmYvhVVMX

— Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) January 17, 2026

Data Debrief: Drawing blanks

Just like in their respective semi-final ties, both Egypt and Nigeria struggled to hit the back of the net, though Eric Chelle’s side may feel hard done by after having two goals ruled out.

Across 90 minutes, the teams had a combined nine shots (five for Egypt, four for Nigeria), the lowest total in a single match at this edition of AFCON, though the Super Eagles at least got all of theirs on target (one for Egypt).

Prior to this game, Nigeria had scored 14 goals at this AFCON, just two fewer than the all-time record (16 by Ivory Coast in 2008), and they fell short of making history.