- Safiu Kehinde
The Super Eagles of Nigeria has kicked off the 2027 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers on bright note with a narrow 2-1 win over Madagascar.
Super Eagles took on the island nation in their Group L opener at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Friday evening.
The Eric Chelle-led side hoped to redeem themselves following their absence at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and their consolatory third-place finish at the last edition of the AFCON tournament in Morroco.
They however endured a shaky first 15 minutes as Madagascar stunned the home crowd with an opener.
The visitors opened the goalscoring account in 15th minute courtesy a header from Eshan Kari.
Despite offside call from the Nigerian side, the referee pointed at the kick-off spot as the goal stood.
Super Eagles made several futile attempts to get back into the game but the finish at the final third proved abortive.
Debutant, George Ilenikhena, eventually rose to the occasion as he put the game on levels term with two minutes left before halftime.
Ilenikhena received a through pass from Fulham’s midfielder, Alex Iwobi, before slotting the ball past the reach of Madagascar’s goalkeeper, Geordan Dupire.
This marked the first goal for the debutant who replaced injured Victor Osimhen.
Nigeria returned for the second half with a renewed determination as they maintained dominance.
Their quest for goal however failed to come until a tactical substitution that saw Moses Simon replacing Akor Adams while another debutant, Moses Usor, replaced Samuel Chukwueze.
Barely five minutes after coming on, Usor formally introduced himself on the scoresheet as he put Nigeria in the lead in the 62nd minute.
The debutant slotted the ball past Madagascar goalkeeper following a solo run from a counterattack.
Meanwhile, the visitors came close to equalising few minutes after as they capitalised on open space within the Super Eagles.
Returning goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali however cleared the one-on-one situation, keeping Nigeria’s lead.
The home side’s defence became compact afterwards as they protected the 2-1 lead till the final whistle.
Nigeria will take on Guinea-Bissau in the second game of the qualifiers as they hope to secure the only ticket available in the group which had the 2027 AFCON co-host, Tanzania.
Tanzania’s automatic qualification narrowed down the qualification ticket in the group to one.
