Lookman and Osimhen Lead Super Eagles into Battle with Atlas Lions

Nigeria and Morocco are set to collide in Rabat on Wednesday night in what promises to be the most compelling tactical contest of the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025.

With a place in the final at stake, the Super Eagles arrive as the form team of the tournament, while the Atlas Lions stand tall as hosts, marrying defensive resilience with territorial dominance.

Nigeria will be forced into at least one change, with captain Wilfred Ndidi suspended. Raphael Onyedika is expected to step into midfield alongside Frank Onyeka and Alex Iwobi, a trio that offers mobility but less positional control than Ndidi’s anchoring presence.

How well Nigeria manage defensive transitions without their skipper could prove decisive against Morocco’s fluid attacking midfield.

Further forward, the Eagles remain devastating. Ademola Lookman has become the defining figure of Nigeria’s recent AFCON campaigns, directly involved in 11 goals across his last 11 appearances.

Operating behind Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams, Lookman provides constant menace between the lines, while Osimhen’s physicality pins defences deep and creates space for runners from midfield.

Defensively, Semi Ajayi and Calvin Bassey have grown into a solid pairing, though Nigeria’s tendency to concede after half-time hints at vulnerability if Morocco sustain pressure late on.

Morocco, meanwhile, are built around control. Neil El Aynaoui anchors midfield, allowing Bilal El Khannouss and Brahim Díaz to flourish in advanced areas.

Díaz has been the tournament’s revelation, scoring in all five of Morocco’s matches and chasing history as the first player ever to score in six different games at a single AFCON edition.

Out wide, Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui provide penetration from full-back, though Hakimi’s adventurous positioning could leave space for Nigeria to exploit on the counter. Up front, Ayoub El Kaabi remains the focal point, his movement inside the box crucial in freeing Morocco’s midfield runners to overload central areas.

Nigeria’s 2-0 quarter-final victory over Algeria extended their perfect record to five wins from five, taking their tally to a competition-high 14 goals.

Éric Chelle’s side now stand on the brink of history, as no team has ever scored two or more goals in six consecutive matches at a single AFCON edition. Yet caution lingers: Nigeria have lost three of their last four AFCON matches against host nations, and semi-finals have often been cagey affairs for them, with only one of their last seven producing more than a single Nigerian goal.

Morocco, on the other hand, dispatched Cameroon 2-0 to record a third consecutive clean sheet, a feat they had never previously achieved four times in a row at AFCON.

Walid Regragui’s side are unbeaten in 18 of their last 19 matches in the competition, scoring in all but one, and remain firmly on course to reach their third final after appearances in 1976 and 2004.

This is the first AFCON meeting between the sides since 2004, with Morocco holding the historical edge across all head-to-heads.

Yet semi-finals have rarely favoured the Atlas Lions, who failed to score in three of their previous four appearances at this stage. Breaking down Nigeria’s relentless attacking volume, averaging a tournament-high 16.8 shots per game, may prove their greatest challenge.

With Nigeria’s firepower set against Morocco’s composure and home advantage, this semi-final has all the ingredients of a finely balanced classic.