Nigeria’s Super Eagles have not only cruised through the group stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations unbeaten, they have done so with performances strongly backed by underlying data, Completesports.com now elucidates.
From chance creation and shot quality to possession control and defensive efficiency, the numbers paint a clear picture of a team whose perfect return in Group C was driven by structure, balance and repeatable patterns rather than luck. This data-driven analysis breaks down how Nigeria dominated their section, what the metrics reveal about their playing identity, and why the Super Eagles are statistically well-positioned as the tournament enters its knockout phase.
Super Eagles’ Perfect Group-Stage Return
Super Eagles delivered a flawless group-stage campaign at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, finishing top of Group C with maximum points and their most prolific group-stage goal return in tournament history. Drawn alongside Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda, the Super Eagles won all three matches, scoring eight goals and conceding four to collect nine points and seal early qualification for the knockout phase.
Super Eagles’ Match-by-Match Group Breakdown
The campaign began with a 2–1 victory over Tanzania. Alex Iwobi assisted both goals, becoming the first Nigerian to provide two assists in an AFCON fixture since John Obi Mikel did so in the 2013 semifinal against Mali. The Super Eagles followed that up with a high-tempo 3–2 win against Tunisia, where they nearly let a three-goal lead slip. That tie ultimately defined the group standings and featured three headed goals, making it only the fourth AFCON fixture since 2008 to record that occurrence.
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Nigeria closed the group stage with a commanding 3–1 performance against Uganda in a game that saw talisman Victor Osimhen captain a heavily rotated Super Eagles side. Manager Eric Chelle made eight changes. This was the joint highest number of changes to a Super Eagles starting lineup at a group stage fixture since 2019. Samuel Chukwueze and Rapheal Onyedika stole the show against Uganda with two assists and two goals, respectively.
Super Eagles’ Historical Group-Stage Consistency At AFCON
Historically, Nigeria have been reliable performers in AFCON group stages. Across 61 group matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, the Super Eagles have scored 90 goals, finding the net in 79 per cent of those games and avoiding defeat in 51 games (37 wins, 14 draws). Looking at their last 20 group games, the Super Eagles have often managed to score in every game, only failing to do so twice (0-2 loss to Madagascar in 2019 and 0-0 draw with Mali in 2008).
Super Eagles’ Attacking Patterns And Chance Creation Trends
In their silver-winning campaign in 2023, Nigeria created their shooting chances from set pieces, cutbacks, and play combinations from the flanks or the regions in front of the penalty area. This trend remains relevant to their current campaign in Morocco and where their shooting chances have been coming from.
The backbone of Nigeria’s attacking approach is their consistent access to central areas and the Super Eagles’ ability to regularly progress the ball into dangerous zones.
Set-Piece Threat And Central Progression
One notable goalscoring pattern remains Nigeria’s effectiveness from set-piece situations. Since 2008, about 44 per cent of Nigeria’s AFCON goals have originated from set-piece sequences, including corners, free kicks, and throw-ins.
Key Eagles: Lookman And Osimhen In Focus
From an individual standpoint, Ademola Lookman has been Nigeria’s most lethal asset with eight goal contributions (five goals and three assists in AFCON) since making his AFCON debut—that is more goal involvements than anyone else to have featured in the competition for the Super Eagles in that timeframe.
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Talisman Victor Osimhen also presents a dilemma. Since the 2023 edition in Cote d’Ivoire, Osimhen has scored five disallowed goals and four of those have been due to offsides. While his qualities are undeniable, his offside awareness remains a recurring tactical concern.
Super Eagles’ Control Metrics: Possession, Passing And Game Management
Across three group matches, Nigeria consistently outperformed their opponents in both shot volume and quality of chance created. Opponents were also limited to relatively low-quality chances, suggesting that the perfect points return for Nigeria was supported by performance rather than good fortune.
Nigeria’s playing style showed a balanced approach between ball retention and direct progression. Being the dominant side in the group, possession figures were consistently healthy, supported by high pass completion rates, progressive ball carries and zone entries.
Defensive actions such as clearances and interceptions also increased when required, indicating situational game management rather than sustained pressure.
The Super Eagles were also able to dictate tempo and their final-third pass completion rates constantly crossed 70 per cent, pointing to controlled attacking entries rather than rushed transitions.
Turnovers were generally managed higher up the pitch, reducing defensive exposure and allowing Nigeria to sustain pressure phases. Across the group, goalkeeper involvement remained relatively low.
Shot Quality And Expected Goals Analysis Across Group Matches
Against Tanzania, Nigeria produced 21 shots to their opponent’s 11 and outperformed an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.62. The shot map showed sustained pressure inside the penalty area, with 14 efforts taken from inside the box and 32 touches in the opposition area.
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When the team faced Tunisia, the match was the most open of Nigeria’s group games. Nigeria recorded an xG of 2.12 to Tunisia’s 1.07, scoring just three times from 15 shots.
The game against Tunisia showed that Nigeria can be exposed during high-tempo exchanges. While Tunisia posed a greater threat than all teams faced by Nigeria, the Super Eagles still created more big chances and maintained superiority in possession and passing volume.
The win over Uganda was also Nigeria’s clearest performance advantage. The Super Eagles had one of their fewest attempts on goal in that game but outperformed an xGOT (Expected Goals On Target) value of 2.17 from the six attempts recorded on target. Simply put, they were shooting from high-quality positions.
Super Eagles’ Knockout Readiness And Mozambique Test
Most opponents were conservative, relying on counter-attacks and fast breaks but it remains to be seen how Nigeria holds up against a different kind of opponent.
Interestingly, as we progress into the knockout stages, the bulk of top-performing teams at this AFCON are on Nigeria’s side of the bracket.
So, the higher the Super Eagles fly in the charts, the sterner the test likely gets. The first test is Mozambique. Mozambique are having a record-breaking AFCON campaign and will be full of confidence. Overall, the data shows the Super Eagles can adapt comfortably.
By Alli Fesomade
