Rise of a Football God-Chapter 369 : AFCON 2025 [4]

(AFCON 2025:)

(Group Stage- Matchday 1 of 3:)

(Nigeria 4-0 Tanzania)

(Date: 23rd December, 2025)

The next day, on 24th December, the remaining teams in the group stage ducked it out on the pitch.

Algeria won convincingly over Sudan 2-0, securing 3 points while the reigning champions of the AFCON Ivory Coast won 3-1 over Mozambique. Cameroon vs Gabon was a 1-1 draw, while Burkina Faso won 1-0 over Equatorial Guinea.

With these results, Matchday 1 of the AFCON 2025 group stage finally came to an end.

Matchday 1 did not lack exciting games, there was a bunch of it.

In the build-up to the AFCON tournament, there were 5 African countries that were billed as the favorites; namely Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast, the reigning champions.

At the end of matchday 1, none of the favorites fumbled, all 5 countries managing to win their games, amassing the maximum 3 points each.

The last game of matchday 1 was played on the 24th, after which there was a 2-day break before matchday 2 commenced.

(AFCON 2025:)

(Group Stage- Matchday 2 of 3:)

(Morocco – Mali)

(Date: 26th December, 2025)

…

(Zambia – Comoros)

(Date: 26th December, 2025)

…

(Egypt – South Africa)

(Date: 26th December, 2025)

…

(Angola – Zimbabwe)

(Date: 26th December, 2025)

…

(Uganda – Tanzania)

(Date: 27th December, 2025)

…

(Nigeria – Tunisia)

(Date: 27th December, 2025)

…

(Benin – Botswana)

(Date: 27th December, 2025)

…

(Senegal – DR Congo)

(Date: 27th December, 2025)

…

(Gabon – Mozambique)

(Date: 28th December, 2025)

…

(Ivory Coast – Cameroon)

(Date: 28th December, 2025)

…

(Equatorial Guinea – Sudan)

(Date: 28th December, 2025)

…

(Algeria – Burkina Faso)

(Date: 28th December, 2025)

After paying attention to all the games in matchday 1 of the tournament even as they played their own game too, the focus of the Nigerians finally narrowed because following up was going to be a chore.

Instead of paying attention to all the competing nations, they focused their attention on only the favorites, their biggest rivals in the tournament.

Even as they focused on their rivals, they didn't lose sight of themselves.

The Nigerian squad under Eric Chelle focused on their own football, learning it, mastering it, and perfecting it.

And this time around, Calvin Bassey, the Nigerian mainstay was the captain of the Nigerian national football team.

Leading by example at the back of the squad, the core, the rest of the Nigerian squad prepared for their next game like their life depended on it.

They literally shut themselves away from the outside world, from the negative world of social media, all to focus their full attention on playing football.

Day in, day out, they gave their all in training.

And as they trained, 2 days quickly passed, the first day of matchday 2 of the AFCON rolling into town as the first games were played.

On 26th, the Nigerian squad focused on 2 games, the Morocco game and the blockbuster encounter between Egypt and South Africa.

Morocco played their game against Mali first.

In African football, Mali may not necessarily be one of the heavy hitters but they were no pushovers either.

On 26th, facing the hosts and one of the favorites, Mali played their hearts out on the pitch, giving out a performance for the ages.

They may not have Morocco's big names, but they had a solid and cohesive team and against the hosts, they caused a lot of trouble.

The first half of the game was an exciting one of end-to-end football, Mali holding the hosts to a 1-1 draw.

When second half started, it was the same thing till late in the game when Morocco finally rose up from their slumber courtesy of an angry Achraf Hakimi.

In the 80th minute of the game, the PSG fullback took the game by the scruff of the neck, singlehandedly winning it for Morocco.

In the 81st minute, after an electric overlapping run down the right-hand side of the pitch, Hakimi threw in an accurate cross for Morocco's striker to power into the net with a powerful header.

And then just 2 minutes later, in the 83rd minute, after a series of one-twos with Brahim Diaz, he burst into the 18-yard box with speed.

He attracted all the attention to himself, freeing up space before cutting back a pass for Brahim Diaz to poke into a suddenly empty net as the goalkeeper was also focused on Hakimi since.

2 moments of individual brilliance in the space of just 3 minutes, that was all it took for Achraf Hakimi to turn the game around for the hosts.

Hakimi won a 2nd consecutive man of the match award.

With Morocco's game won, all eyes turned towards the blockbuster encounter between Egypt and South Africa and this time, things didn't go exactly as planned for the favorites.

South Africa orchestrated the first major upset of the AFCON 2025 in imperious fashion, snatching victory from the Pharaohs of Egypt.

With Ronwen Williams leading the South Africans as their captain and talisman, the goalkeeper managed to put out a man of the match display in the 2nd group stage game, shutting Egypt out and leading his country to a famous victory.

Egypt outplayed South Africa, winning on every single parameter, outshooting them, out-possessing them but yet, it didn't matter.

In the first half alone, Egypt got 11 shots to South Africa's 3, 9 on target.

But Williams was a wall in between the posts.

He denied Salah 6 times by the end of the game!

The first half ended in a goalless draw but in the second, Omar Marmoush seemed to have provided the breakthrough when he scored in the 72nd minute of the game, sending Egyptians around the world into a realm of euphoria.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Ecstasy, joy…, they celebrated the goal exuberantly.

But 10 minutes later, the South African defiance started, orchestrated by a team that played team football like a well-oiled machine.

The equalizer came on the end of a sudden 18 pass sequence, South Africa's striker, Rayners literally passing the ball into the net at the end in the 82nd minute to bring the game level and stunning Egyptians around the world.

That goal… spurned Egypt on!

'We must get the winner!'

They pushed men forward in attack, desperate to get the winner but that risky gamble left them open at the back.

All it took was one counterattack, just one.

Mokwana, the South African winger got the pass and without hesitation, he started the counterattack, led it, and ended it.

With his speed, he charged down the field, bursting past multiple Egyptian players, including the goalkeeper as he rounded him before slotting into the net, sending the internet into a frenzy.

It was a big upset, an unexpected one.

South Africa won!

Egypt lost.