Nigeria's forward #22 Akor Adams and Nigeria's midfielder #08 Frank Onyeka celebrate Nigeria's forward #09 Victor Osimhen 's goal during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) quarter-final football match between Algeria and Nigeria at the Grand stadium in Marrakesh on January 10, 2026. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)
Marrakesh, Morocco: Victor Osimhen scored one goal and set up another as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final on Saturday to set up a last-four showdown with hosts Morocco.
Nigeria dominated the first half in Marrakesh without scoring before getting the breakthrough within two minutes of the restart as Osimhen headed in.
The 2023 African player of the year then turned provider for the second goal just before the hour mark, setting up Akor Adams to put the Super Eagles out of sight.
Runners-up at the last AFCON two years ago in Ivory Coast, Nigeria came to Morocco still smarting from their failure to qualify for the upcoming World Cup but are dreaming of winning a fourth continental title here.
They were not intimidated by a Marrakesh crowd of 32,452 which was almost entirely given over to the Algerian cause, but the atmosphere is likely to be far more hostile for Wednesday's semi-final in Rabat.
Algeria had beaten Nigeria en route to winning their last Cup of Nations title in Egypt in 2019 and this has been by far their best campaign at the tournament since then.
Their large support which descended on a stadium set against the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains was full of optimism after Vladimir Petkovic's side had impressed in the group stage and edged out the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 16.
Yet a team featuring a formidable front three of Riyad Mahrez, Ibrahim Maza and Mohamed Amoura failed to muster a single shot in the first half and were lucky to be level at half-time.
Tensions spilled over between the teams on the pitch at full-time, but it is next stop Rabat for the Super Eagles.
