Nigeria’s players looked broken last November when they failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup. Despite all of the talent at their disposal, they lost a penalty shoot-out to the Democratic Republic of Congo in a World Cup play-off final and failed to qualify for successive editions of FIFA’s showpiece event.

But, less than two months later, they have reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Eric Chelle’s side made a difficult task look easy on Saturday evening as they beat Algeria 2-0. The fixture was held in Marrakech but it looked, sounded and felt like being in the middle of Algiers because the majority of the 32,452 fans inside the Stade de Marrakech were supporting Algeria. They screamed and whistled every time Nigeria were in possession but it made no impact.

Morocco’s Brahim Diaz is the undisputed star of AFCON 2025, but Nigeria might be the strongest team in the tournament. They possess Victor Osimhen, one of the world’s most clinical strikers who scored the opening goal against Algeria, and two of the most underrated players in the Premier League in Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi.

Bassey is playing exceptionally well at centre-back, while Iwobi is producing the best performances of his career. Iwobi’s pass with the outside of his right foot in the build-up to Akor Adams’ goal against Algeria, which made it 2-0, was sublime and it could be strongly argued he is the team’s key player.

By the way, did we mention Ademola Lookman, who has directly contributed to seven goals in five appearances?

Nigeria always produces great players but they have a strange ability to self-sabotage. Osimhen’s row with Lookman during their victory over Mozambique earlier this week threatened to disrupt the team’s harmony. On Thursday, the country’s minister of state finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, said the squad and backroom staff were due to be paid bonuses from the group stages of the competition after delays caused by “foreign-exchange processing”. They have been the only signs of drama and both appear to have been resolved.

Osimhen, who wore the captain’s armband in the second half after Wilfried Ndidi limped off with an injury, and Lookman jumped into each other’s arms after Adams dribbled past Luca Zidane to score. It is a shame Ndidi will miss the semi-final against Morocco on Wednesday, even if he recovers from injury, after picking up his second booking of the tournament.

Victor Osimhen celebrates scoring against Algeria with Ademola Lookman (Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty Images)