Morocco reached the 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations following a 4-2 penalty shootout win at Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat.
The highly contested clash ended goalless after extra time but how did the Nigerian players rate on the day in defeat.
Stanley Nabwali 7.0: One of the reasons the game went into penalties as he made over three good saves to keep the game deadlocked. Saved Hamza Igamane penalty as well.
Samuel Bright Osayi 6.0: A committed performance against the tricky Ezzalzouli but came out on top in several duels.
Semi Ajayi 7.0: Made an important block early on to deny Ismail Saibiri. He was clean and tidy all through.
Calvin Bassey 7.5: Nigeria’s best performer on the night. A colossus at the back who won several battles against Ayoub El Kaabi. His physical presence, ball passing when he won possession and ability to thwart danger were all on show.
Bruno Onyemaechi 6.5: Saw his penalty saved but in the 120 minutes, Bruno did well to keep Bruno Diaz silent but also got some time to go offensive.
Frank Onyendika 4.0: Struggled against the Moroccans who closed him as soon he got on the ball. His performance was a testament to how big a miss Wilfried Ndidi was. Subbed off midway the second half.
Frank Onyeka 6.5: In the absence of Ndidi, Onyeka gave the defensive line the needed cover. Ran his socks off and came off drained.
Alex Iwobi 5.5: Had lots of the ball but in deep areas that literally didn’t hurt the Moroccans. The Atlas Lions tactically isolated him and that took a lot out of Nigeria in terms of attack.
Ademola Lookman 6.0: Forced a good save from Bonou in the first half but otherwise, tight marked all through and denied more sniff at goal. Despite so, he looked like the player to make something happen for the Super Eagles.
Adams Akor 4.0: A shadow of the player he was against Algeria in the quarter final. Often let down by a poor first touch and lost possession easily on several occasions. Shocking that it took Chelle so long to take him off.
Victor Osimhen 5.0: Marked out of the game by the Morocco centre backs. Often looked frustrated and made wrong on choices the two times he came close to doing something special to hurt the opponents.
Substitutes
Moses Simon 5.0: Replaced Onyedika to probably offer width and pace to Nigeria but kept in check by Hakimi and company.
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru 5.0: Converted from the spot after coming on late.
Paul Onuachu 5.0: Sent Bonou the wrong way to give Nigeria a good start in the shootout.
Samuel Chukweze 0.0: Brought on late mainly to take a penalty but his casual kick was easily saved.
Coach
Eric Chelle 6.0: He tactically set up the team to nullify the Morocco attacking threat which they did but didn’t appear to have a decent plan on how to attack. Besides, he made changes so very late as he appeared to take risks.