As stated in an official release posted on the CAF website on Monday, the crucial statistics, past meetings, and all pertinent information prior to the Nigeria vs. Morocco semi-final are reviewed in detail below.

Both teams are undefeated going into the final four.
Morocco has won four of their tournament games and drawn one, while Nigeria has won all five.

The match is the sixth time the two countries have faced off in the Africa Cup of Nations; all five of their prior meetings have resulted in a victory.

This is the second time they have faced off in an AFCON semifinal and their first AFCON encounter in 22 years.
Four of their five prior AFCON encounters—two games in 1976, 2000, and 2004—took place in the group stages.

Morocco won both games, 3-1 and 2-1, during their first AFCON encounter in the group stage in 1976, en route to their first and only continental championship.

This will be their second encounter in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals. Felix Owolabi’s goal in the ninth minute gave Nigeria a 1-0 victory in the previous semi-final match in 1980, enabling them to win their first AFCON championship.

When Nigeria defeated Morocco 2-0 in their final Group D match at the tournament in 2000, they faced off once more. The Super Eagles’ goals came from Finidi George and Julius Aghahowa.

Youssef Hadji’s goal in the 77th minute gave Morocco a 1-0 victory in their first Group D match during their most recent AFCON encounter in the 2004 group stage.

At the Africa Cup of Nations, they have previously faced host or co-host countries 10 times, with three victories, three draws, and four losses.

After playing Côte d’Ivoire in both the group stage and final of the 2023 edition, Nigeria has now faced the host country twice in a row. Nigeria lost 2-1 in the final after winning 1-0 in the group stage.
Nigeria has also triumphed over tournament hosts in the past, defeating Senegal 2-1 in the group stage in 1992 and Mali 1-0 in the third-place match in 2002.

They lost against Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the 2008 tournament, as well as thrice against Algeria in the 1990 group stage and final.

They have drawn with their hosts three times: in 1978 against Ghana, in the 2002 group stage against Mali, and in the 2004 semi-finals against Tunisia, which ended 1-1 before Nigeria lost on penalties.

Nigeria has faced the hosts five times in AFCON knockout matches, with only one victory—against Mali in the third-place match in 2002.

They have lost once on penalties against Tunisia in 2004 and three times in open play: to Algeria in the 1990 final, Ghana in the 2008 quarterfinals, and Côte d’Ivoire in the 2023 final.

After losing to Ghana in the 2008 quarterfinals and Tunisia on penalties in the 2004 semifinals, this semi-final is Nigeria’s third straight knockout encounter against a host country.

In the eleven encounters between Nigeria and Morocco, Morocco has prevailed six times against Nigeria’s three, with two draws.
Both draws, which took place in the second round over two legs in the 1984 AFCON qualification, ended in a scoreless tie.

After a goalless aggregate result, Nigeria advanced after winning a penalty shootout.

In their five AFCON encounters, seven of the eleven goals have been scored in the second half.

Previous Meetings
Overall Record: P11 W3 D2 L6 GF8 GA14 GD -6 for Nigeria and P11 W6 D2 L3 GF14 GA8 GD +6 for Morocco

Only AFCON
Morocco: P5 W3 D0 L2 GF6 GA5 GD +1 Nigeria: P5 W2 D0 L3 GF5 GA6 GD -1

Previous AFCON Gatherings
Group A, First Group Stage (6 March 1976): Nigeria 1 (Ojebode 81′) Morocco 3 (Faras 8′, Tazi 19′, Chebbak 81′)

Final Round, March 11, 1976: Morocco 2 (Faras 82′, Nigeria 1 (Mohammed 57′) Guezzar 87′

1980: Nigeria 1 (Owolabi 9′) Morocco 0 in the semifinals on March 19, 1980
2000, Group D (3 February 2000): Morocco 0, Nigeria 2 (George 28′, Aghahowa 81′)

Group D (27 January 2004): Morocco 1 (Hadji 77′), Nigeria 0

Nigeria: Important Data
Nigeria defeated Algeria 2-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semi-finals.

For the first time at an AFCON, they have scored two goals or more in each of their five tournament games.

Additionally, they have only scored at least twice in five games in a single edition twice, the first occasion being in 2000.

Nigeria is only the second team to score at least two goals in each of their first five Africa Cup of Nations games, after Egypt in 1974 and 2010.

At the current finals, they have scored 14 goals, their most in a single edition.

Cameroon was the last AFCON squad to score 14 goals in 2021.

Nigeria has scored in their previous 12 AFCON games; their most recent failure to do so was against Tunisia in the Round of 16 in 2021.

They last scored in six straight games in 2013, but they have now scored in five of the current finals.

For the first time, they have won five straight AFCON games, and for the second time since 2019, they have won five in a single edition.

They have never won six consecutive games or six AFCON games.

Nigeria has won both of their AFCON 2025 knockout games. They last won three straight knockout games in 2013, which is still the only edition in which they have won three in open play.
This is Nigeria’s record-breaking 16th AFCON semifinal.

They made their debut appearance at this level in 1978, however they were defeated 2-1 by Uganda. Only Senegal (2019, 2021, 2025) and Nigeria (2019, 2023, 2025) have advanced to three semifinals under the 24-team format.

The 1976 tournament was divided into two group rounds, and their semi-final record is currently P15 W8 L7. Four of their eight semi-final victories were earned on penalties and four in open play.

Six of their seven eliminations were during open play, and one occurred on penalties. Nigeria is the only team that has never advanced past the AFCON semifinals.

With a win, Nigeria would tie Ghana on nine final appearances and advance to their ninth AFCON final and first straight final.

Only Egypt, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire have advanced to several finals with Nigeria since 2013.

Prior AFCON final appearances by Nigeria occurred in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1994, 2000, and 2013.

They would also advance to their fourth North African final with a victory. In their last six AFCON competitions, this is their fifth trip to the semifinals.

They won at this stage in 2013 and 2023, but lost in the semifinals in 2010 and 2019.

In 20 AFCON games, Nigeria has only missed the semifinals three times (1982, 2008, and 2021).

Nigeria has participated in eight AFCON penalty shootouts, winning six of them—five of which took place in the semifinals.

Together with Egypt, they have won the most AFCON penalty shootouts.

They lost in shootouts in the 2000 championship game and the 2004 semifinals.

They have won their past three shootouts after winning their first three in 1984, 1988, and 1994. Penalties have only been decided in one AFCON final involving Nigeria, which took place in 2000.
In open play, Nigeria has won four semi-finals (1980, 1990, 2000, and 2013) and lost four (1978, 1992, 2002, and 2019).

The most goals scored by a Nigerian at a single AFCON since Odion Ighalo in 2019 is four thanks to Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen is the seventh Nigerian to score three knockout goals in a single tournament and has been directly involved in ten AFCON goals (five goals and five assists).

With five victories and two draws, Nigeria has never lost an AFCON game in which Osimhen has scored or assisted.

Nigeria presently has the greatest shot conversion rate in the competition at 21%, and they did not encounter a single shot on target against Algeria in the quarterfinals.

Morocco: Important Data
Morocco advanced to the final four for the first time since 2004 after defeating Cameroon 1-0 in the quarterfinals to secure their spot in the semifinals.

It was only the second time they had advanced past the quarterfinals in their five appearances.
They are making their fifth appearance in the semi-finals after making appearances in 1980, 1986, 1988, and 2004. Their total AFCON goals now stand at 96.

After 1988, this is their second time as hosts making it to the semifinals.

Morocco lost consecutive AFCON semi-finals in 1986 and 1988 and only won one of their previous three, in 2004.

They lost to the hosts, Nigeria, in their maiden semi-final participation in 1980. Every team that had previously defeated Morocco in an AFCON semifinal went on to win the championship.

Morocco would make it to their first AFCON final in more than 21 years with a victory.

Morocco has lost all three of its previous semi-finals by scores of 1-0, all of which were decided in open play.

A victory would also make Morocco the 15th host country overall and the second consecutive host country to advance to an AFCON final.

In the current finals, Morocco has maintained four clean sheets—their highest in a single edition.

The only Moroccan goalie to have four clean sheets at an Africa Cup of Nations is Yassine Bounou.

They have won their last three AFCON games and have won four games at the current edition, their most since 2004.

As the first player to score in five games at a single AFCON since 2021, Brahim Díaz has scored five goals during the competition.

He is one goal short of Morocco’s AFCON scoring record held by Ahmed Faras.

Morocco has more set-piece goals than any other team in the current finals with five.

With a victory, the Atlas Lions would advance to their third senior CAF final in less than a year. Head coach Walid Regragui is leading Morocco into his second major semifinal.