2024 Ballon d’Or nominee and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman was on target twice as the Super Eagles of Nigeria began their quest to reach the finals of the 2025 African Nations Cup (AFCON) with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cheetahs of Benin Republic.
Galatasaray new boy, Victor Osimhen, also found the back of the net at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in the match played Saturday. evening.
Ademola Lookman scored in each half, and Osimhen scored in between the Atalanta winger’s well-taken goals.
The win means Nigeria leads the group with three points, and Rwanda and Libya, who drew 1-1 on Thursday, are on one point each.
The interim coach Augustine Eguavoen begins another stint with the Eagles with a convincing victory against a team that defeated Nigeria 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier in June.
Eguavoen was called to take charge of the team after an agreement between the Nigeria Football Federation and German coach Bruno Labbadia fell through at the last minute over tax issues.
In Garoua, Cameroon put aside their horrible build-up for the game behind them to pip the Brave Warriors of Namibia 1-0. Vincent Abubakar scored for the troubled Lions in the 65th minute of the game.
Elsewhere, Senegal drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso in Dakar. Sadio Mane in the 16th before Bouda’s stoppage-time strike made it one all.
Here are all the Match Day 1 results:
Group A
• Comoros 1-1 Gambia
Scorers: M’Changama 37 / Barrow 45
• Tunisia 1-0 Madagascar
Scorers: F. Sassi 90+9’
Group B
• Central African Republic 3-1 Lesotho
Scorers: L. Mafouta 1’, 24’, G. Koyalipou 62’ / S. Motebang 56’
• Morocco 4-1 Gabon
Scorers: H. Ziyech 9’ (pen), 26’ (pen), B. Díaz 59’, A. El Kaabi 82’ / P. Aubameyang 40’ (pen)
Group C
• Egypt 3-0 Cape Verde
Scorers: R. Rabia 23’, M. Marmoush 45+1’, I. Adel 70’
• Mauritania 1-0 Botswana
Scorers: S. Bouna Amar 84’
Group D
• Libya 1-1 Rwanda
Scorers: Al Dawi 16 / Nshuti 47
• Nigeria 3-0 Benin
Scorers: A. Lookman 45+2’, 83’, V. Osimhen 78’
Group E
• Algeria 2-0 Equatorial Guinea
Scorers: R. Mahrez 24’ (pen), H. Aouar 70’
• Togo 1-1 Liberia
Scorers: K. Denkey 79’ / W. Gibson 90+2’
Group F
• Sudan 1-0 Niger
Scorers: A. Eisa 51’
• Ghana 0-1 Angola
Scorers: Milson 90+4’
Group G
• Sierra Leone 0-0 Chad
• Côte d’Ivoire 2-0 Zambia
Scorers: J. Krasso 73’, 84’
Group H
• Tanzania 0-0 Ethiopia
• DR Congo 1-0 Guinea
Scorers: E. Kayembe 29’
Group I
• Guinea-Bissau 1-0 Eswatini
Scorers: Bura 14’
• Mali 1-1 Mozambique
Scorers: Y. Bissouma 52’ / G. Catamo 37’
Group J
• Kenya 0-0 Zimbabwe
• Cameroon 1-0 Namibia
Scorers: V. Aboubakar 65’
Group K
• Congo 1-0 South Sudan
Scorers: M. Matondo 12’
• South Africa 2-2 Uganda
Scorers: L. Foster 14’, T. Mbath 90+5’ / D. Omedi 51’, R. Mato 54’
Group L
• Malawi 2-3 Burundi
Scorers: C. Kaonga 31’, Z. Nkhoma 75’ / C. Idana 22’ (OG), J. Girumugisha 33’, M. Eldhino 87’
•Senegal 1-1 Burkina Faso
Scorers: S. Mané 16’ / O. Bouda 90+5’
Eighteen-Eleven Media