Eagles to face South Africa in AFCON semis for the second time in 24 years!
The Super Eagles will face the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in their record extending 16th Africa Cup of Nations semifinal on Wedneday at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake, Ivory Coast.
The South Africans defeated Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties in their quarterfinal clash on Saturday night and will now be playing Nigeria in the semifinal of the competition for the second time.
The two countries first met at the semifinal stage in 2000 in Lagos, Nigeria with the Super Eagles winning 2-0 after two first half goals by Tijani Babangida.
Nigeria and South Africa have met two more times after that first meeting in 2000 with the Super Eagles winning on both ocassions viz a 4-0 whitewash of the Bafana Bafana in a group game in 2004 with Joseph Yobo, Austin Okocha and Peter osaze Odemwingie (a brace) all scoring and at the quarterfinal stage in 2019 with the Nigerians triumphing 2-1.
Nigeria qualified for their 15th semi-final at the African Cup of Nations (5 directly following the group stage, 10 following a quarter-final), the most ever by any country in the competition (Egypt at 13) after defating Angola Friday evening in their record-equalling 11th quarterfinal appearance.
Nigeria now carry the pressure of being favourites to win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations following the exit of many of the continents’ big guns before the quarter-final stage.
Ranked 42nd in the current FIFA Rankings, Nigeria are the highest-ranked side left in the competition following the exit of Morocco (13th), reigning champions Senegal (20th), Tunisia (28th), Algeria (30th) and Egypt (33rd).
