2025 U-20 AFCON: Nigeria bow out in semi-final to South Africa
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Tylon Smith fires Amajita to victory over Flying Eagles
Nigeria were denied the opportunity of winning a record eighth U-20 Africa Cup of Nations title on Thursday, when they suffered a 1-0 defeat to South Africa, who will now face Morocco U-20 in the final on Sunday, May 18.
The Flying Eagles will contest the third-place match against tournament hosts Egypt earlier the same day, and our football predictions will be available ahead of kick-off, so be sure to check them out for our experts’ thoughts on how the match could pan out.
In the semi-final, the match started nervily as expected, with neither team wanting to take any early risks, but the first real opportunity of the match fell to Nigeria’s Tahir Maigana, though he was unable to beat Fletcher Lowe in the South African goal.
At the interval, the Flying Eagles dominated in most statistical categories and began the second half in the same vein, but the breakthrough came in the 66th minute by Amajita attacker Tylon Smith, who rose highest to power home what turned out to be the winning goal.
That marked Smith’s first goal of the competition and arguably the team’s most important to date. It also extended their unbeaten run to five matches at the 2025 U-20 AFCON and earned them their first final appearance since 1997 when they ended as runners-up.
The Flying Eagles were made to rue their missed opportunities, with the likes of Rickson Mendos, Israel Ayuma and Bidemi Amole failing to convert very presentable chances late in the game, though Lowe deserves plenty of credit, as he pulled off a string of saves to keep his side in the lead.
For Nigeria, this marks the third consecutive edition of the U-20 AFCON in which they bowed out in the semi-final, having done so in 2023 to Gambia and in 2019 against Mali. However, the major positive is that the Flying Eagles' semi-final run has earned them a spot at the U-20 World Cup later this year.
Aliyu Zubairu’s reaction to Flying Eagles’ defeat
Following the Flying Eagles' loss on Thursday, Nigeria U-20 head coach Aliyu Zubairu revealed in his press conference that he takes full responsibility for his side’s defeat to Amajita, and plans to reassess their tactics ahead of the U-20 FIFA World Cup. He said:
“I take full responsibility for our failure to reach the final. As head coach, the blame rests on me. “This tournament has helped us identify the players capable of stepping up to the next level and those who are not. After our WAFU B success, we dropped many players because their quality wasn’t sufficient for the continental stage. A similar review will happen again. It’s clear that some of the current squad members aren’t ready for the demands of a World Cup.”
The 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be hosted in Chile between September 27 and October 19, and joining the Flying Eagles at the competition from the CAF region are South Africa, Egypt and Morocco. Nigeria are the highest-seeded African nation at the competition with 15.8 points.
