Rise of a Football God

(Nations in the Round of 16: Egypt; …)

Egypt did it, dispatching Angola to join the other countries that already secured qualification to the round of 16 of the AFCON tournament.

Their scintillating game against Angola was just the prelude to an incredible matchday of the AFCON though, other games were played.

Zambia vs Morocco progressed harder than people expected as the Moroccan coach rested some of his players, giving fringe players the opportunity to shine. Afterall, with their 6 points, Morocco already secured qualification.

Their only battle was now to hold on to the top spot in their group, so they could be in a favorable spot for the round of 16 draws.

And against a Zambian side that was fighting desperately for qualification, both nations played an intense game in front of their fans.

Zambia got the first goal, scoring in the 44th minute and stunning the hosts, sending Zambian fans around the world into a world of euphoria, building the hope of qualification inside them.

The first half came to an end 1-0 in Zambia's favor.

In the 2nd half though, led by an imperious Achraf Hakimi from the back, Morocco rallied against the Zambian national team.

After a few early minutes of pressure as Zambia desperately defended their lead, one of the Moroccan center backs raised a ball above the Zambian defense for Morocco's striker to run into.

Omar Marmoush did not miss his mark.

He ran, and swung his leg, then…

WHOOP!

The Zambian goalkeeper didn't even see the ball till it was already in his net. The Zambian players groaned in frustration.

In the 63rd minute of the game, the game became level.

And 4 minutes later in the 67th minute, Morocco completed the comeback, one of the Moroccan midfielders poking in from close range to close the lead, sending Zambian fans around the world into the depths of the abyss of sorrow.

Zambia's run in this AFCON tournament seemed all but over, their light snuffed out by an imperious Moroccan side, but this lasted until the 90th minute.

On the 90th minute of this game, crazy things happened.

Everybody already wrote off Zambia, expecting Morocco to claim another impressive victory to round off a clean sweep of their group stage campaign, but then a Zambian defiance arose.

In the 90th minute of the game, the Zambian captain took the ball outside Morocco's 18-yard box, and then he tried his luck.

BAM!

Hitting the ball with absolute venom, the ball rose and flew like a rocket, accelerating with speed before nestling into the roof of the net.

The ball went straight to the middle of the net, but the power behind it and the fact that it hit the bar before ricocheting into the net left Morocco's goalkeeper with no chance.

"GOALLLLLLLLL…!!!"

Morocco was stunned; Zambia was shocked.

That night, a nation would tango all night long!

In incredible fashion, Zambia managed to snatch qualification from the jaws of defeat, making it to the knock out stages of the AFCON tournament in 2nd position behind Zambia.

After Morocco's game, on the same 29th December, Zimbabwe took on South Africa in another blockbuster game.

And then, another big upset happened as the Zimbabwe national team rallied to an unlikely victory against the South Africans.

South Africa was knocked out of the tournament!

Crazy scenes…, you just had to be there.

The Zimbabwe players ran the length of the pitch, celebrating wildly with their fans in the stadium. Again, on the same day, another nation was to tango all night long, part of the joy of securing qualification.

After South Africa's game, Comoros took on Mali but it was the only boring game of 29th as both nations played out a boring 0-0 draw.

And then the last big game of 29th.

(AFCON 2025:)

(Uganda – Nigeria)

(Date: 29th December, 2025)

Egypt already played its game, securing qualification. The same thing for Morocco, another of the favorite countries in the tournament this time.

And now, it was Nigeria's turn.

For this game, Eric Chelle finally decided to rest some of his players, giving opportunities for other players in the Nigerian squad to shine.

This did not mean Nigeria was throwing in the towel though.

Far from it, they also wanted to win.

If they won, they would have secured a clean slate of their group stage campaign, winning all 3 of their games and amassing the maximum 9 points.

It was the same 4-2-3-1 formation for Nigeria, but with different faces. Only the defense, midfield and goalkeeper positions didn't change.

Nigeria's offensive lineup changed significantly though.

In attack, Ademola Lookman started again as the left winger but this time, Alex Iwobi was moved, taking the attacking midfield spot. On the right, Samuel Chukwueze was brought to the lineup as the right winger.

Victor Osimhen remained the main man leading the line though.

As for Uganda, they started with their strongest lineup in a 4-2-3-1 formation with the likes of Semakula, Mugabi, Awany, and Kayondo in defense and Watenga holding the fort in between the posts.

Ahead of the defense was the midfield duo of Lwanga and Aucho.

Further ahead in attack, Omedi started as the right winger, Okello in attacking midfield, Mato as the left winger, and Ssemugabi leading the line as the striker.

On paper, contrasted against each other, one of the 2 squads was clearly superior and when the referee's whistle sounded, there was no deviation from popular expectations.

Nigeria dominated the game.

FWEEE!

From the first minute of the game, the Super Eagles hoarded possession, passing their opponents to death even as Uganda sat deep, defending doggedly.

Enjoying the vast majority of possession, Nigeria was able to get their attackers in favorable positions but against Uganda's stalwart and team-defensive efforts, the most important thing failed to materialize, a goal.

For 45 minutes, Victor Osimhen knocked, helped by Lookman, Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi and yet a goal failed to materialize.

Uganda were literally playing with 10 men behind the ball.

They were playing Jose Mourinho football.

And it worked, though it was not pleasant to the eye.

The first half came to an end with a 0-0 draw.