Nigeria Book Afcon Knockout Place Despite Late Tunisia Fightback
Former Continent's Best Player of the Year the Napoli star was instrumental in his team build a 3-0 lead, before the Super Eagles were forced to defend resolutely for a narrow victory.
Nigeria weathered a dramatic comeback attempt from their opponents to advance to the last 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations taking place in the host nation.
Jose Peseiro's side seemed to be cruising in their pool encounter in the Moroccan city, holding a 3-0 cushion with only a quarter of an hour left courtesy of goals from their attacking trio.
Yet, Montassar Talbi pulled one back with a close-range finish from a Manchester United midfielder free-kick, igniting hopes of a recovery.
The drama intensified when Tunisia were given a spot-kick after a VAR check identified a handling offense by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi calmly slotted home in the 87th minute to create a frantic conclusion.
Tunisia came agonizingly close from a last-gasp leveler in added time, with their skipper heading a chance narrowly wide before a substitute sent a half-volley past the goal frame.
Clinching First Place
This result ensures that the Super Eagles, champions of the tournament on three previous occasions, move to 6 group points and are guaranteed first place in their pool with one game still to be contested.
For the round of 16, they will face a third-placed side from either the other preliminary groups.
Meanwhile, Tunisia stay on three points, with Uganda and Tanzania tied on one point after playing out a one-all stalemate earlier on Saturday.
The concluding group fixtures will see the group leaders stay in Fes to take on Uganda on the next matchday, while Tunisia return to Rabat to confront Tanzania.
A Nervy Conclusion
The Tunisian defender drilled the ball from 12 yards to give Tunisia a glimmer of hope of snatching a point.
The Super Eagles, finalists in the 2023 tournament, become the next team after the Pharaohs to reach the knockout stage, but coach Eric Chelle and supporters will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.
What looked like set to be a straightforward final quarter morphed into a tense affair.
The prolific striker had a goal ruled out for offside before breaking the deadlock on the stroke of the interval, precisely placing a header into the far post from an Atalanta winger delivery.
The advantage was extended early in the second half when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to power home a header from a set-piece corner.
Osimhen then turned provider Lookman for the seemingly decisive goal, before Montassar Talbi to direct a header past the Nigerian shot-stopper to initiate the fightback.
The pivotal moment came when a high ball hit the forearm of the full-back, with referee Boubou Traore awarding a penalty after reviewing the VAR monitor.
Although Ali Abdi's confident conversion, Tunisia in the end fell short of completing a remarkable recovery.
Tunisia's destiny is still in their own hands; a draw against Tunisia will be sufficient to secure progression, and their coach will be eager to avoid a recurrence of the past early elimination that led to his departure.
