By Editor
Tunisia Coach Sami Trabelsi says his team lost too many battles and failed to impose themselves early enough in the group match played on Saturday. Nigeria capitalized on these lapses in securing a dramatic 3-2 victory in Fez as a part of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Nigeria’s win in Fez on Saturday night booked them a place in the Round of 16. Incidentally, the Tunisians were rated higher before the kickoff according to the available statistics.
They did not concede goals across their World Cup qualifying series and opened their AFCON campaign with a convincing 3-1 win over Uganda. Nigeria, by contrast, edged past Tanzania 2-1 while failing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Yet those pre-match narratives were overturned in a dominant Nigerian display that saw Eric Chelle’s side exploit Tunisia’s defensive structure with pace, power, and precision before surviving a tense late comeback.
Nigeria struck just before half-time when Ademola Lookman delivered a pinpoint cross from the left for Victor Osimhen, and then went on to make it 3-0 before the Tunisians fought back in the last 15 minutes to make it all end at a 3-2 defeat.
After the match, Trabelsi admitted his frustration.
“Of course, there is a sense of bitterness after the match and this defeat,” Trabelsi told CAFonline.
“We felt we could have come back, especially during the final 30 minutes. The players performed at a very high level in that period; we created many chances, scored two goals, and could have scored more.
“The defeat hurts, but there is also a positive aspect: it shows that we can compete with any opponent when we impose our style of play and our ball possession.
“We respected them, yes, while trying to remain balanced. We know that Nigeria has very fast and powerful players, so we tried to reduce the spaces. In the first half, we had a few chances that we should have taken. The goals we conceded came from crosses; it was not a matter of too much respect, but rather that we lost too many defensive and attacking duels. Once we started winning our attacking duels, we were much better and put the opponent under pressure.
“I repeat, we did not start the match well because we lost too many duels. However, over the final 35 minutes, we were dominant, and the final result could have been very different.
“It is a matter of judgment. When we needed even more attacking penetration, we introduced Ismail Gharbi, but the performance of those already on the pitch was not poor. The next match will be decisive.”
Nigeria now sits top of Group C with six points and will face Uganda next, while Tunisia travels to Rabat to meet Tanzania, knowing their tournament hangs in the balance.
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