Nigeria Beats Egypt on Penalties to Claim U-20 AFCON Bronze

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles defeated hosts Egypt in the third-place clash at the 30 June Air Defence Stadium, Cairo, today Sunday, 18 May 2025, at the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament Egypt 2025.

The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, before Nigeria kept their nerve in the shootout to secure their fifth bronze medal in U-20 AFCON history.

It was a clash between two sides aiming at finishing the tournament on a high after missing out on the final.

Osama Omar put Egypt ahead early in the third minute, but Nigeria equalized shortly after the restart through Bidemi Amole. 

With no extra time played in the third-place match, penalties were required, and the Flying Eagles converted all four of their spot-kicks, while Egypt missed two.

The match ended 4-1 via penalty shoot-out in favour of Nigeria.

Prior to the encounter, Nigeria were defeated 1-0 against South Africa in the semi-final encounter.

Egypt, meanwhile, also lost to Morocco by the same score line in the other semi-final tie.

Meanwhile, South Africa will face Morocco in the U-20 AFCON final later tonight.

By and large, the last four have already qualified and confirmed their places in the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile come September 2025.