2025 U-20 AFCON: Abubakar Rufai’s heroics lands Nigeria bronze at Egypt’s expense

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria have claimed the bronze medal at the 2025 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations after defeating hosts Egypt 4-1 via penalty shoot-outs, Soccernet.ng reports.

Nigeria lost out to South Africa in the semifinal of the tournament on Thursday in arguably their best game of the tournament. That set them up for a date with hosts Egypt, who lost to Morocco.

Egypt had the advantage as hosts, and it seemed like it would count for a lot, as they got in front after just three minutes, courtesy of a strike from Omar Osama.

Nonetheless, coach Aliyu Zubairu's lads quickly grew into the game and started bossing the play. However, they just lacked the cutting edge and the right ideas in the final third.

It was not the regular starting XI, as players like Yushau Armiyau, Ezekiel Kpangu, and Precious Bejamin, who have not been starting, started.

Flying Eagles line up vs Egypt pic.twitter.com/4OuU6HylMr

— The NFF (@thenff) May 18, 2025

But before the break, coach Zubairu introduced Divine Oliseh and Bidemi Amole to add an extra bite to the attack. And just two minutes into the second half, both of them combined for Nigeria's opening goal.

Oliseh's intensity paid off, as he won the ball off Egypt's captain, Ahmed Khaled, at the edge of the box, ran into the area, and unselfishly squared it to Amole, who just tucked the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net.

The Flying Eagles dominated the rest of the encounter, but they failed to score. Benjamin, Amole, and Oliseh got some sweet chances, but they failed to convert.

After 90 minutes, the game went straight into a penalty shoot-out. Just before the referee signalled for shoot-outs, coach Zubairu hauled off Yakub and introduced Rufai, the third-choice goalkeeper. That decision yielded fruit, as the 17-year-old saved two kicks, while Nigeria converted all four of theirs to seal a 4-1 win.

Bronze secured. Pride unmatched. Naija dance all the way! #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 pic.twitter.com/c1dAuZSTFm

— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) May 18, 2025

This is the second consecutive time that Nigeria will finish third in the Under-20 AFCON, as they finished in the same position in the last edition.

Watch: Nigeria vs Egypt highlights