Three extra-time goals, including a brace from Victor Osimhen as well as another strike from Chidera Ejuke, took Nigeria one step closer to the 2026 World Cup, after they beat Gabon 4-1 in the first semi-final of the African playoffs in Morocco on Thursday.
Akor Adams had put the Super Eagles 1-0 up in the 78th minute of regular time, but they were pegged back with just a minute left on the clock through Mario Lemina’s deflected shot. Ejuke restored the lead in extra-time with his first goal for Nigeria before Osimhen scored a brace to send the Eagles into Sunday’s final.
Rocked by a bonus row with the Nigeria Football Federation 48 hours before the game, the Super Eagles didn’t show any signs of weakness against the Panthers in the opening exchange.
Zaidu Sanusi was the first to have a goal attempt, testing Gabon goalkeeper Marius Mbaba in the opening minute with a free-kick from a long way out. Moments later, Akor Adams found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper from a diagonal angle, but couldn’t sneak his ball past him as well.
In the 16th minute, Adams set up Victor Osimhen with a lofty cross, but the striker’s header went wide as he collided with the goalkeeper in the process.
While the opening 10 minutes saw the Super Eagles try to carve out an opening in the tight Gabon defence, they began to get the ball on target in the 20th minute. This time, a pinpoint header from Osimhen via an Alex Iwobi cross forced Mbaba down his right to prevent Nigeria from taking the lead.
Two minutes later, Osimhen miscued in the box again after being freed by Ademola Lookman.
Mbaba was called into action again just before the half-hour mark, keeping the ball off the line from an Osimhen shot which ricocheted off his defenders. Nigeria appealed for a handball in the process, but VAR found nothing.
Although Nigeria enjoyed much of the possession, Gabon began to settle into the game after the half-hour mark, and they broke on the counter in the 36th minute, but Sanusi was quick enough to recover and make a vital block in the box.
Stanley Nwabali’s first test also came in just before halftime, making a save from Royce-Drax Openda to keep the scores level going into the break.
Unlike the first half, Gabon resumed the second forty-five minutes on the front foot, winning a free kick on the right after five minutes. Although the delivery was headed out for a corner kick by Benjamin Frederick, there was panic on the Nigerian side when South African referee Abongile Tom was summoned by the VAR to review a shirt pull inside the box.
After three minutes of review, Osayi-Samuel was let off the hook as Nigeria regrouped to soak the Gabonese pressure. Amid the all-yellow traffic, coach Eric Chelle also made two changes, taking off Lookman and Samuel Chukwueze for Moses Simon and Chidera Ejuke, respectively.
For all of Gabon’s dominance in the opening stages of the second half, they failed to make it count and were punished by Nigeria in the 78th minute.
Veteran defender Aaron Appindangoye sent a sloppy backpass to his goalkeeper, and Adams was on alert to steal the ball before Mbaba got there, sending it into an empty net for Nigeria’s breakthrough.
The Panthers, however, found a way to send the game into extra time with just a minute left on the clock, thanks to Mario Lemina’s shot, which beat Nwabali after taking a wicked deflection off Osayi-Samuel.
Nigeria had the chance to prevent an extra time inside the 12 minutes that were added onto the normal time, but Osimhen uncharacteristically finished them poorly. He sent the first chance across the face of the goal and the second, which would have been a match-winner, as sent unbelievably wide after being set up one-on-one with the goalkeeper by Wilfred Ndidi.
Seven minutes into the first 15 minutes of extra-time, Ejuke was at the end of a through ball on the right side of the Gabon box from Ndidi to restore Nigeria’s lead, while Osimhen also atoned for his earlier misses five minutes later, firing from the same angle into the keeper’s bottom right corner to make it 3-1.
Moments after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang almost caught Nwabali napping on a backpass after the restart, Osimhen got his brace with a trademark finish. He controlled a long ball in the Gabon area with his chest, balanced himself with another touch on his lap before firing Nigeria 4-1 up.
Nigeria will face DR Congo/Cameroon in the final of the playoffs on Sunday, with the winner advancing to the inter-continental playoffs in Mexico by March 2026, when two tickets to the World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico will be up for grabs.
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