AFCON
TAKE-AWAYS IN THE UPCOMING NIGERIA-MADAGASCAR CLASH
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Both Nigeria and Madagascar meet in Alexandria on Sunday in continuation of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. With Madagascar defeat of Burundi on Thursday, the Sunday match has assumed greater importance that previously anticipated. As usual, Sports Village Square takes an insightful look at the encounter and comes out with the following points of interest.
- This is a match that the two topmost chieftains of CAF, Ahmad and Amaju Pinnick will naturally have vested interests. CAF president is from Madagascar and will wish his team make new marks by crossing the group stage at the very first attempt. Amaju Pinnick will want his Super Eagles to achieve a 100 per cent feat at the group stage for the first time ever.
- The match will be Nigeria’s 89th match in Africa Cup of Nations’ history. The Super Eagles have won 47 of the preceding 88 matches; lost 19 drew 22 and had scored 122 goals, conceding 84.
- The match will be the 32nd for Gernot Rohr as Nigeria’s manager.
- Gernot Rohr will be lining out a team against the country of his wife who is from Madagascar.
- Guinea provides a common denominator for both teams. While Nigeria beat Guinea, 1-0, Madagascar was forced to a 2-2 draw by Guinea.
- In beating Guinea on Wednesday, Rohr had his ‘Pound of Flesh’. He was shortlisted for the Guinea national team job in July 2016, but was not given the job, which was offered, to Paul Put. He not only beat the team that refused him, he showed he is better than Paul Put.
- A draw by both Nigeria and Madagascar will see both teams through as first and second respectively from the group. But a win by Madagascar, will alter the ranking, even though, both will still qualify.
- The Sunday match is Nigeria’s third group game in the current competition. Nigeria has never lost a third match in the Africa Cup of Nations since the 3-0 loss to Zambia in 1982. The worse results since had been the 0-0 to Algeria 1n 1984 and similar score line with Egypt in 1988.
- A win for Nigeria on Sunday makes it the first time Super Eagles will secure 100% record in Africa Cup of Nations’ group stage involving three matches.
- If fielded, Ahmed Musa who had his 80th cap in the match against Guinea, will be 19 games to clocking the milestone 100th cap.
- If fielded, Mikel Obi will be having his 89th cap, 11 more to get enlisted in the famed ‘Century Club’.
- Madagascar were close to recording an upset in duel with Nigeria 40 years ago when Bendel Insurance of Nigeria and AS Sotema clashed in the then African Winners’ Cup, now merged with CAF Cup and renamed CAF Confederation Cup. Bendel Insurance won the first leg in match of the quarterfinals encounter, 2-0 in Madagascar only to surprisingly lose by the same margin at the National Stadium, Lagos. Bendel however survived 5-3 by penalties.
- Also another Benin City team, Bendel United beat Madagascar’s FC BFV 4-1 in the semifinals of the African Cup Winners Cup 30 years ago and forced a goalless draw in Madagascar.
- Like most national football team in Africa, Madagascar’s team has a nickname. The team is called Barea, a specie of humped cattle which part of the country’s coat of arm.
- Madagascar conceded eight goals in 2019 AFCON qualifying; more than any other team that qualified for the tournament.
- Madagascar were the first team to qualify and for the first time, doing so with two matches to spare, after a lone goal victory over Equatorial Guinea last October in Antananarivo. Njiva Rakotoharimalala’s first half strike was all Nicolas Dupuis’ charges needed to achieve the biggest moment in their football history.
- This will be the fifth encounter of Madagascar and Nigeria at national team level. In the previous four matches, Madagascar has never scored a goal against the Super Eagles and had conceded five.
NIGERIA-MADAGASCAR HEAD-TO-HEAD
P W D L GF GA
Nigeria 4 3 1 0 5 0
Madagascar 4 0 1 3 0 5
- 7 Oct. 2000 (Afconq) Madagascar 0-0 Nigeria
- 2 June 2001 (Afconq) Nigeria 1-0 Madagascar
- 5 Sept. 2010(Afconq) Nigeria 2-0 Madagascar
- 3 Sept. 2011(Afconq) Madagascar 0-2 Nigeria
The African Football Confederation (CAF) and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) have sealed a historic strategic partnership that grants Morocco’s national airline the status of “Official Global Partner” for upcoming major African football competitions.
The agreement was signed Saturday morning in Casablanca, in the presence of Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaâ.
This partnership encompasses several prestigious tournaments, including the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (AFCON) 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026) and CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (WAFCON) 2024 (July 5-26, 2025).
The agreement also covers CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF Champions League 2024/2025 Finals, CAF Confederation Cup 2024/2025 Finals, and the CAF Women’s Champions League 2025.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe voiced enthusiasm about the collaboration.
“We are excited about the partnership between CAF and Royal Air Maroc, a world-class airline that will provide comfort and fly NationalTeams participating in the CAF competitions,” he said.
“We are confident that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will be the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition.”
The agreement strengthens RAM’s footprint across Africa and globally, solidifying its role as a strategic gateway between Africa and the rest of the world. It also aligns with Morocco’s emergence as an international sports hub, with the country preparing to host AFCON 2025 and co-host the FIFA World Cup 2030.
RAM’s Chairman and CEO Hamid Addou stated: “This historic partnership with CAF aligns fully with our strategic vision as an airline deeply rooted in Africa and committed to its development.”
“Royal Air Maroc doesn’t just connect destinations; it builds bridges between cultures and passions. By supporting the continent’s biggest football competitions, we reaffirm our role as a facilitator of human and sporting exchanges,” he continued.
500,000 supporters expected
Beyond its partnership role, RAM will implement an exceptional operational system to meet increased demand during CAF competitions. The airline plans to welcome over 500,000 supporters for AFCON 2025.
“We believe we will surpass this figure by far,” revealed Addou. “We will be ready to accommodate these supporters across Royal Air Maroc’s entire network.”
The airline intends to double seat capacity from qualified countries already served by RAM, such as Dakar, Abidjan, Cairo, Tunis, Bamako, Lagos, and Douala.
RAM will also intensify flight frequencies from European cities with large African communities, including Paris, Brussels, Milan, London, Marseille, Lyon, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Additionally, the airline will establish a dedicated program for domestic air transport of national teams, shuttling them between their base camps and host cities.
This positioning establishes RAM as the primary connector between Africa and Europe through its Casablanca hub. FRMF President Fouzi Lekjaâ noted that the contract “reinforces Royal Air Maroc’s first-rate leadership role in Africa.”
“Royal Air Maroc is no stranger to football,” Lekjaâ added. “It has always supported generations of our athletes and footballers here in Morocco.”
“With this expertise and experience, they will contribute significantly to making AFCON 2025 Morocco exceptional, a historic turning point in African football, cultural coexistence and African cultural exchange,” he concluded.
Addou stressed RAM’s commitment to African unity: “We are all extremely proud to be African, and in every corner of this vast and magnificent continent, we share the same ambition—to actively contribute to Africa’s development and influence.”
The RAM CEO concluded by inviting everyone to upcoming CAF calendar events: “We’ll see you very soon for the great moments ahead in the CAF calendar, particularly the Women’s AFCON starting in July and, of course, the men’s AFCON, which kicks off on December 25.”
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The presidents of the regional councils concerned by the hosting of the matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco-2025) unanimously affirmed that the implementation of infrastructure projects in anticipation of this continental event “is progressing at a sustained pace”, declaring themselves “fully mobilized” to crown with success the major sporting events scheduled in the Kingdom.
They specified, in statements to the press in Rabat following a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior devoted to the assessment of the progress of the construction and rehabilitation works of the stadiums, that major sports infrastructure projects are underway in the six host cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir.
The President of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council, Abdellatif Maâzouz, announced that the projects planned for upcoming international sporting events, in particular the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, “are proceeding under good conditions.”
The projects related to the organisation of the AFCON will be ready by next July at the latest, he assured, specifying that there is a clear vision regarding the preparations underway for the AFCON and the 2030 World Cup, both in terms of equipment and organisational arrangements related to human resources and animation.
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AFCON
‘Land of Football’ is ‘Kingdom of Light’ as Moroccan Tourism Office and Football Federation Strike Accord
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Morocco’s football federation and tourism office have signed a groundbreaking agreement to establish the country as a major football and tourism destination leading to the milestone 2030 World Cup when the global football tournament clocks a century.
The Moroccan football body and the Tourism Office are building on the national team’s recent international success.
Though with just one success in the Africa Cup of Nations, Moroccan football soars higher than the rest in Africa and the Arab world at the World Cup.
Apart from being the only African and Arab country to have reached the World Cup semi-final stage, Morocco in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico became the first African team not to be defeated in a World Cup match when they forced Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw on 11 June.
Again, in Mexico, this time at the 1986 World Cup, Morocco became the first African team to top a group and cross the group stage.
They were just two minutes away from a major upset of West Germany in the round of 16 before Lothar Matthäus’ back-breaking goal.
The success of the football team and the tourism potential of Morocco have found a harmonious chord.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the National Moroccan Tourism Office (ONMT) will work together under the banner “Morocco, Land of Football,” placing the sport at the heart of the country’s tourism strategy.
“More than an institutional partnership, this convention is a shared vision: that of a Morocco that shines through football and makes it a lever for promotion, pride and tourist attractiveness,” ONMT said in a statement released after the signing.
The timing of this collaboration is strategic, coming ahead of two major sporting events: the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
The initiative builds on widespread public enthusiasm following the Atlas Lions’ historic World Cup performance in 2022.
Under the agreement, both organizations will implement an integrated communication strategy combining visibility campaigns, influence marketing, and joint promotional activities.
The initiative will mobilize iconic figures from Moroccan football to bring this vision to life, to showcase the country’s world-class sporting facilities, rich cultural heritage, and diverse tourist attractions.
ONMT has launched a major offensive at making Morocco, the ultimate tourism and business destination as the clock ticks down to the 35th Africa Cup of Nations holding in December.
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