AFCON: Nigeria, Egypt reach semifinals on thrilling day of action
On a tense night of action in Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt won to join the hosts and Senegal in the semifinals of AFCON 2025. Catch up on how the stars of Ligue 1 McDonald's got on for their national teams with our roundup of the day's two quarterfinals.
Nigeria 2-0 Algeria
The Super Eagles have reached this point in the tournament owing to their attacking prowess, and it was once again on show. Victor Osimhen, late of LOSC, seems to have put his feud with his teammates to bed, and he and another former Ligue 1 McDonald's player, Akor Adams, who featured for Montpellier for a season-and-a-half, were once again at the forefront of Nigeria's strong play in a diamond 4-4-2.
After a scoreless first half, Osimhen broke the deadlock on 47 minutes, rising highest at the back post to head in a cross by Bruno Onyemaechi. Ten minutes later, he would turn provider, generously setting up Adams with a square ball on the break. While Algeria would have their chances, the likes of Hicham Bouadoui (OGC Nice) and Aissa Mandi (LOSC) would ultimately be disappointed as Nigeria held their nerve to advance to a massive showdown with hosts Morocco on Wednesday in Rabat.
4 teams left. The 2025 AFCON enters its final stages! 🌍💫 pic.twitter.com/y2DR3OapuE
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 10, 2026
Egypt 3-2 CĂ´te d'Ivoire
If the day's first match was largely one-way traffic, the second was an end-to-end thriller between two sides who had been largely defensively sound in the tournament to date. While Guéla Dou´´e was the only Ligue 1 McDonald's player in the eleven for either side, Mostafa Mohamed (FC Nantes) would come off the bench for Egypt, and Jean-Philippe Krasso (Paris FC) and Seko Fofana (Stade Rennais) did the same for Les Élephants.
Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush got the scoring started early doors, and Egypt would double the lead just past the half hour, but Côte d'Ivoire, who were dangerous on set pieces throughout, would pull one back with an own goal at a corner just before the break. A sublime team goal finished off by Mo Salah would restore Egypt's two-goal advantage, but Côte d'Ivoire battled hard to get back into the match. Doué would strike twenty minutes from time, but a third goal failed to materialize for the holders. Egypt's reward will be a date with Sengal in the semifinals on Wednesday.
