Tunisia and Nigeria will meet at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo on Wednesday in the AFCON 2019 third-place play-off.
Tunisia lost their semi-final match against Senegal. After a goalless 90 minutes, Dylan Bronn’s unfortunate extra-time own goal denied Tunisia their first AFCON final appearance since 2004.
Nigeria were beaten 2-1 in their semi-final with Algeria. The match looked to be heading into extra-time before Riyad Mahrez’s 95th minute free-kick broke Nigeria hearts.
Thank you for all your support. We fought but it wasn’t enough. Let’s push one more time Wednesday! 🇳🇬 🦅 pic.twitter.com/AgeaMOvRO4— William Troost-Ekong (@WTroostEkong) July 15, 2019
Thank you for all your support. We fought but it wasn’t enough. Let’s push one more time Wednesday! 🇳🇬 🦅 pic.twitter.com/AgeaMOvRO4
After finishing second in their group, the Super Eagles overcame Cameroon in a dramatic round of sixteen tie to set up a quarter-final clash with South Africa.
Nigeria beat South Africa 2-1 thanks to a late William Troost-Ekong strike however Algeria denied them a chance to claim their fourth AFCON title.
Tunisia’s route to the semi-finals was a lot less convincing. They scraped through to the knockout stage after drawing all three of their group matches.
They advanced from the round of sixteen thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Ghana before putting an end to Madagascar’s fairytale run with a 3-0 win in the quarter-finals.
Pre-tournament favorites Senegal proved to be too strong for Tunisia in their last-four tie and now a third-place finished is the best the Eagles of Carthage can hope for.
Tunisia have struggled for goals throughout the tournament. Apart from their convincing quarter-final victory, they have failed to score more than one goal in any of their other five matches.
They have also conceded in four of their six matches so far and head coach Alain Giresse will no doubt want to see his team go out on a high.
On the other hand, Nigeria have been involved with fifteen goals up to this point; scoring eight and conceding seven.
Each of their last three matches have resulted in more than 2.5 goals being scored. They have generally managed to outscore opponents whilst also having a leaky defense.
Tunisia have a slight lead in the head to head record between the two teams. They have six wins to their name in this fixture whilst Nigeria have five.
They have not met in this tournament since a quarter-final in 2006. Nigeria won on that occasion via a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw after extra-time.
Nigeria have been playing the better football at this year’s tournament however Tunisia have found a way to beat teams.
Forebet predicts a tight match on Wednesday, with the possibility of extra-time and penalties.