With Nigerians having lost faith in the Super Eagles following their lacklustre World Cup campaign – the second in a row, CHRISTIAN OKPARA looks at what is left of the old excitement and a window of opportunities that another African Cup of Nations tournament portends, starting this weekend.
From Sunday, December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026, the best African football-playing nations will gather in Morocco to compete for the continent’s football crown at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be held across six Moroccan cities.
Already, all the 24 teams have arrived in Morocco ready for Sunday’s kick-off, with hosts Morocco opening the competition with a Group A game against Comoros Island, in Rabat.
AFCON’s euphoria has enveloped the continent, with the people eagerly waiting to see their teams in action, but for Nigeria, which is still trying to come to terms with missing out on another FIFA World Cup next year after failing to make the 2022 edition hosted by Qatar, the enthusiasm is not as high as it used to be.
No thanks to the Super Eagles’ recent failings, especially their losses to teams hitherto regarded as minnows in African football, which have made many of their fans indifferent to the Africa Cup of Nations despite the array of talented players in the team.
Also, the recent announcement that Africa will only have access to 30 per cent of the games through the free-to-air channels, while Europe will get the games 100 per cent free-to-air, has further dampened the enthusiasm of many football lovers, who believe that CAF is pandering to European interests to the detriment of Africans.
This notwithstanding, many stakeholders can’t wait to follow the progress of the Super Eagles in the championship despite the team’s low rating.
While that happens, many Nigerians are also wondering what the country stands to gain from AFCON after so much emotional and financial investment in the Super Eagles’ participation in Morocco 2025.
To prepare for the last Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Cote d’Ivoire and the 2025 African Women’s Nations Cup (AWCON), which Nigeria won in Morocco, the Federal Government budgeted N6 billion for both teams. Half of that sum (N3 billion) went towards the Super Eagles’ preparation and participation in the 2024 AFCON, which they concluded with a silver medal.
Although the NFF has not been forthcoming with information on the sum approved by the Federal Government for the 2025 AFCON, sources at the National Sports Commission (NSC) told The Guardian during the week that money would not be the Super Eagles’ problem at the championship, which Nigeria has been rated as one of the top contenders.
Following the scandal involving the Super Eagles’ protests and refusal to train on the eve of the 2026 World Cup Africa playoff in Morocco barely one month ago, the source stated that the Federal Government has ensured such a “disgraceful incident” does not happen again.
Optimists among the stakeholders, however, believe that Nigeria will benefit from the championship in different ways, especially if the Super Eagles perform to fans’ expectations.
Apart from bragging rights, at stake is the tournament’s top prize of $7 million (N6.70 billion), which will be awarded to the winner of the championship.
According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the winner of Morocco 2025, like the champions of the last edition, will earn N6.70 billion ($7 billion) from the over N30 billion to be won by teams at different levels of the championship.
Should the Super Eagles finish second, as they did in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria will receive $4 million. A semifinal ending for the team will fetch them $2.5 million, while a quarterfinal finish will yield $1.3 million.
Sports analyst Sabinus Ikewuaku is not overly concerned about the Super Eagles’ performance in Morocco. Rather, he is more interested in how to follow the competition without straining his finances.
Criticising CAF for allegedly treating Africans as second-class citizens in a championship that belongs to them, Ikewuaku, a lawyer, said the decision to limit Africa to 32 free-to-air games, while allowing Europe to access the whole 52 matches free, mirrors the corruption in African football at the topmost level of administration.
He said: “Many Nigerians, who cannot afford Pay TV, would be wondering if they will be able to follow the Super Eagles in the tournament. This is because they can only watch games that the CAF decide to allow free-to-air. It is a shame that this is happening in this age. Whatever excuse CAF has, it should be noted that it has not done well for Africa. Europe can never give Africa access to the UEFA Champions League for free. They are not that kind.”
A distraught former captain of the senior national football team, Segun Odegbami, who said that the Super Eagles have been so mismanaged that Nigerians are no longer interested in what the team does in its current state, added, however, that this attitude will change when the championship begins.
He added that Nigerians will gain many benefits from simply participating in the championship, even if the Super Eagles do not win it.
“Participation does not mean that we must win it now,” he said. “There are 23 other countries in it, but there will be only one winner.”
Odegbami said that the country will not spend so much at the championship because the hosts pick up most of the bills incurred by the participating teams. “The accommodation, transportation, feeding and other sundry costs at the AFCON, like the World Cup, are borne by the host country. And when you do well, you cannot put a price on the joy it brings to the nation, or the unity it brings. I remember that before the Atlanta Olympic Games, where we won the football gold medal, Nigerians had no hope in the team. On the eve of the Games, we suffered a scandalous loss to Togo in a friendly game in Lagos.
Yet, we beat Brazil and Argentina to win the Olympic gold. Nobody remembered that we lost anymore.”
Another former international, Waidi Akanni, described the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations as the elixir the country needs in these hard times.
According to Akanni, Nigerians will temporarily forget their failure to qualify for the World Cup when the AFCON begins, adding that enthusiasm for the competition will grow with every game Nigeria wins.
“The African Nations Cup brings out the best in African football, and as such, every qualified country wants that power; they want to argue that they are the best in Africa, regardless of whether they qualify for the World Cup or not, or for any other tournament. So, each time the African Nations Cup comes around, it’s like an opportunity to earn bragging rights for all African countries.”
“Of course, the best players in Africa will be showcased at that tournament. I think it’s important for us to show that we’re the giant of Africa; that’s what excites a lot of Nigerians. They want to be the best in Africa; they want their players to be the best in Africa, just like we have in Osimhen and Lookman, the last two African players of the year. It excites people to want to be the best in Africa, and that is why a lot of Nigerians are interested.”
Akanni dismissed suggestions that spending more than N3 billion on a single sporting competition is too much for a country grappling with unemployment and poverty, with many people unable to feed themselves.
He said that participating and doing well at the Africa Cup of Nations “is worth much more than any kind of money you put on it. “For example, if you go on CNN and try to advertise Nigeria, you know how much you’ll pay. So, for me, I don’t think what we’re earning from the championship should be the main factor. It should be about where and what we are putting up on the map as far as Nigeria is concerned. What are we showing to the whole world that we can do?”
Akanni, who believes that the Super Eagles can go all the way to win the championship, added, however, that tournaments are not easily predictable. “We have to take the games as they come. Anybody can make noise before the game starts, but once you get out on the pitch, you have to take every game as it comes. So, my take is that we go out there and do the right thing, because other countries will also want to do the same thing that we are doing.
For Friday Elaho, who was one of the best stars at the Algiers ’90 AFCON, which Nigeria won the silver medal, Nigerians should forget about the past disappointments and rally round the Super Eagles to bounce back to reckoning.
“I don’t know the state of the team now, but their preparation has not been the best. The way they stroll into camp does not give room for proper planning,” he said. “Before we played at Algiers ’90, we spent close to two weeks in camp in Holland, perfecting our game because most of us were new to the team. But times are different; I don’t know if these players can play as a team and adapt to the coach’s plan in the championship.”
