Nigeria Fails To Qualify For AFCON After Loss To Egypt

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will not be competing in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon after losing to the Pharaohs of Egypt by a score of 1-0 in Alexandria on Tuesday.

Nigeria needed to defeat Egypt in order to qualify for AFCON after Friday’s match against them ended in a 1-1 draw. Tuesday’s match gave the Pharaohs a 5-point lead in Group G.Egypt’s 19-year-old Ramadan Sobhy scored the loan goal of the match in the 64th minute, securing the Pharaohs a spot in the 2017 edition of AFCON after missing the last three contests.

The Super Eagles, who failed to qualify for the 2015 edition, had their position in Group G impacted after Chad dropped out of the tournament. Chad’s withdrawal gave Group G an uneven number of teams (Nigeria, Egypt, and Tanzania), allowing only one team to advance. As a result of the withdrawal, all results of matches against Chad were nullified. The Super Eagles had defeated Chad 2-0.

After Tuesday’s match, Egypt stands on top of the Group G standings with 7 points. Nigeria trails with 2 points, while Tanzania sits in last with 1 point.