Despite missing out on qualifying to the FIFA World Cup for the second time in a row, Nigeria’s Super Eagles are viewed as one of the favourites to win the 2025 AFCON title by legendary Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan.
The former Black Stars captain who played in two AFCON finals, made this statement in an interview with CAF media on the sidelines of the 2025 CAF Awards.
Nigeria lost on penalties to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the CAF Playoffs to qualify to compete in the Intercontinental leg of the playoffs for a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The mini tournament will be held in Mexico next year.
Ghana failed to qualify to the upcoming AFCON but the Black Stars made amends for the miss to an extent by qualifying to next year’s World Cup and aside Nigeria, Ghana picked host nation Morocco and defending champions Cote D’Ivoire [Ivory Coast] as favourites to win the AFCON trophy.
“We’ve got a lot of giants who are going there. Ghana is out which we are very disappointed but we qualified to the World Cup so it’s okay. Nigeria did well, they were close last two years, Ivory Coast did well… Morocco is also a strong contender who are also doing well” Gyan said.
Nigeria finished second at the last AFCON after losing 2-1 to Cote D’Ivoire.
