AFCON 2023 Guinea-Bissau 0 Nigeria 1: Own goal gifts Super Eagles win, last 16 berth in landmark game 

The Super Eagles defeated Guinea-Bissau 1-0 in their last group game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations played on Monday evening at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

It was a landmark game for Nigeria - their 100th at the Africa Cup of Nations since their debut in the competition in 1963.

Nigeria started the game on the frontfoor with Victor Osimhen recording the first clear attempt on goal in the 1st minute but saw his shot go wide before being flagged for offside.

 
Guinea Bissau midfielder Nito Gomes got the first shot on target of the game when his long-range effort was comfortably saved by Stanley Nwabali.

Bright Osayi-Samuel got Nigeria's first clear-cut chance in the 14th minute when Calvin Bassey played a diagonal ball toward the path of the right wing-back but he couldn't connect with it cleanly and was eventually flagged for offside.

The Wild Dogs goalkeeper Jonas Mendes was eventually forced to make his first save of the game in the 20th minute from Joe Aribo's deflected shot.

Nigeria took the lead in the 37th minute when Kenneth Omeruo played a diagonal pass to Ola Aina who headed the ball towards Moses Simon, then the Nantes winger squared the ball into the penalty area and Opa Sanganté put the ball into his own net.

Osimhen got the last chance of the first half from Calvin Bassey's cross but he couldn't direct the ball towards the goal.

The Napoli star would get another chance in the 54th minute but his attempt couldn't make a difference to the scoreline.

A minute before the hour mark, the 25-year-old  thought he had registered his name on the scoresheet when he tucked the ball in the net with a tap in but the goal didn't stand as he committed a handball in the build-up.

The reigning CAF Men's Player of the Year got another clear-cut chance in the 78th minute from Aina's cross but yet again failed to put the ball in the back of the net.

Franculino Djú thought he had restored parity for Guinea-Bissau in the 82nd minute but his goal was ruled out for offside.

Two minutes later, Zaidu Sanusi tucked the ball into the net but the goal didn't stand as Osimhen had committed a handball before the Porto left-back scored.

With Equatorial Guinea battering Ivory Coast 4-0, the Super Eagles ended the group in second position and will face Group C's runner-up on January 27.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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