Rampant Nigeria eye all-time AFCON goal-scoring record

by Devesh Jaganath | by Cydias Aujard

image Rampant Nigeria eye all-time AFCON goal-scoring record
Only four teams remain standing at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, and there are several records on the line as we head into the semi-final stage this week. Nigeria are best-placed to break one such record, as they are now just two goals away from becoming the highest-scoring team in the history of AFCON.

Super Eagles on the hunt for a piece of AFCON history

We have already seen a handful of records tumble at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, and with four games left to go, teams still have a chance of etching their names in the history books of the continent’s grandest competition. 

The team with the best chance of claiming their piece of history is Nigeria, who arrived in Morocco with a point to prove after losing in the final of this competition in 2023 (2024) and failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America later this year. 

The Super Eagles have had the most potent attack in the competition, as they ended the group stage as one of only two teams with a perfect record of three wins in three games, while scoring eight goals in that period - the most of any side during the round-robin games. 

In the knockout stages, Eric Chelle’s side turned it up even further, smashing in four goals against Mozambique in the Round of 16 before netting two without response against Algeria in the quarter-final, which also confirmed our AFCON 2025 predictions. 

The three-time African champions now have 14 goals to their name, only two shy of the all-time AFCON goal-scoring record set by the Ivory Coast in 2008. Zambia (1996) and Egypt (2008 and 2010) are tied for second in the list with 15 goals apiece. 

With 14 goals, the Super Eagles are now joint-third along with Zaire (1974), Morocco (2004), and Cameroon (2008 and 2021). Of the remaining semi-finalists this year, Senegal are on 11 goals, while North African giants Egypt and Morocco have netted nine times each. 

AFCON 2025: Top scorers heading into semi-finals

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Ahead of the AFCON 2025 semi-finals, we have already seen a total of 119 goals scored in 48 matches at an average of 2.48 goals per game, and sitting in pole position for the Golden Boot is Brahim Diaz with five goals. The Moroccan attacker has scored in every game he has featured in the competition. 

In joint second are Nigeria’s talisman Victor Osimhen and the Egyptian King Mohamed Salah on four goals apiece. Salah has now scored 10 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations, just two shy of Egypt’s all-time top scorer in the continental showpiece, Hassan El-Shazly. 

However, the race for the Golden Boot is still wide-open, with Ademola Lookman (3), Ayoub El Kaabi (3), Cherif Ndiaye (2), and Nicolas Jackson (2), among others, still firmly in the race as we enter the final four on Wednesday afternoon. 

AFCON 2025: Top scorers

  • 5 goals: Brahim Díaz (Morocco)
  • 4 goals: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria), Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
  • 3 goals: Ayoub El Kaabi (Morocco), Ademola Lookman (Nigeria), Amad Diallo (Côte d’Ivoire), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Lassine Sinayoko (Mali)