The Super Eagles of Nigeria claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory over Mozambique in the round of 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday.
Although Nigerians were massive favourites going into the game, the level of dominance was unprecedented. The Mambas were outplayed and totally dominated for the entire 90 minutes.
It was a solid shift from all eleven players who were on the pitch. And the Mozambicans were even lucky that it was just a 4-0 loss.
In this article, Soccernet.ng rates the performances of all the players who played for Nigeria against Mozambique.
Super Eagles’ Player Ratings
Stanley Nwabali 7/10: Stanley Nwabali was basically on leave during the game. Mozambique had only two shots and none was on target. The Chippa United man was confident in goal and didn’t have any scary moment.
Semi Ajayi 7.2/10: Ajayi had yet another top performance for the Super Eagles at AFCON 2025. His partnership and understanding with Bassey was great, and he also added some attacking impetus.
Ajayi did not put a foot wrong at all in the game, and his passing was also solid.
Calvin Bassey 7.4/10: The Fulham star had a brilliant showing on the night. He hounded and hunted down the Mozambicans anytime they got near him. Bassey was just too strong for any of them on the night. The downside to his performance was the yellow card. But asides from that, Bassey was spotless and stainless.
Bright Osayi-Samuel 7.5/10: Osayi had his best performance yet at AFCON 2025. He was simply brilliant. Passing, decision-making, defending, and his work rate was on point.
He did a lot of work in the attack, but he never got caught out of position. Solid showing from the defender.
Bruno Onyemaechi 7.6/10: Onyemaechi was guaranteed a tough task on the night because he had to face off against Mozambique’s Geny Catamo, and he alongside Bassey were just too solid.
The Mambas focused most of their attacks on his side of the pitch, but Onyemaechi have a good account of himself and didn’t give them any breathing space. The Olympiacos man is definitely having a tournament to remember.
Frank Onyeka 7/10: Chelle would definitely be smiling at himself for the decision to include Onyeka in the starting 11. The Brentford man lived up to his nickname “The Tank”.
Onyeka covered the pitch and hardly gave the Mozambicans any breathing space. He did a lot of the dirty work in the middle of the park and combined well with the other midfielders.
Wilfred Ndidi 7.3/10: The Super Eagles captain continued his streak on brilliant performances at the AFCON 2025. He commanded the midfield with an iron hand. Ndidi’s ball usage was nice, as he had a 95 percent pass accuracy.
His marking was also brilliant, and he linked well with Iwobi in the middle of the park.
Alex Iwobi 8/10: For anyone who didn’t watch, it would be easy to assume that Iwobi was simply decent because he didn’t get any goal or assist. However, he was just brilliant on the night.
His line-breaking passes were great and were key to the Super Eagles’ goals. He still managed an 87 percent pass accuracy out of 87 minutes. It was an amazing performance from the Fulham star.
More to follow…
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