AFCON
Our Beat, Our Gold: How Goldberg Turned AFCON 2025 Into a Shared Nigerian Journey
As the lights dimmed on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Goldberg Lager Beer also drew the curtain on its AFCON journey not with disappointment, but with pride, gratitude and a strengthened belief in the future of Nigerian football.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles ended their campaign on the podium, claiming the bronze medal after edging Egypt on penalties in the third-place match. It was Nigeria’s ninth third-place finish at the AFCON finals. It is a record that further underlines the country’s reputation as the most consistent team in the history of the competition, with more podium appearances than any other African nation.
The ultimate target was a fourth continental crown, but that remained just out of reach. But for Goldberg, AFCON 2025 was never a story defined solely by silverware. It was a narrative of character, resilience and the enduring relationship between the national team and its vast, passionate support base.
Football, culture and a shared rhythm
Driven by its “Our Beat, Our Gold” campaign, Goldberg Lager Beer followed the Super Eagles throughout the tournament, turning AFCON 2025 into a shared national experience. Across Nigeria, viewing centres and cultural activations transformed match days into communal festivals of colour, sound and emotion. Beyond the country’s borders, fan-engagement activities in Moroccan host cities ensured that Nigeria’s green-and-white presence travelled with the team.
The Nigerian Breweries team, led by Head of Marketing Communications, Sandra Amachree, and Senior Brand Manager, Goldberg Lager Beer, Kunle Aroyehun, pose with brand influencers Broda Shaggi, Shaffy Bello and others during one of Goldberg’s numerous fan-engagement activities at the recently concluded AFCON 2025 in Rabat, Morocco.
On the pitch, the Super Eagles matched that energy with an expressive and confident brand of football. Nigeria finished as the tournament’s most prolific attacking side, scoring 14 goals—more than any other team. They created the highest number of clear chances (27), dominated possession with an average of 66 per cent, and recorded the longest winning run of the competition with five consecutive victories.
To Goldberg, those numbers spoke to something deeper than results alone: belief, progress and intent.
Beyond the scoreboard
Reflecting on the campaign, Laolu Babalola, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager Brands at Nigerian Breweries Plc, said AFCON 2025 was about more than wins and losses.
“We set out believing in gold, and while the final prize did not come, the journey mattered,” Babalola said. “The Super Eagles played with confidence and purpose, and the fans responded with passion and loyalty. That connection is what this campaign was built around.”
Kunle Aroyehun, Senior Brand Manager, Goldberg, described the close of the tournament not as an ending, but as a moment of reflection.
“Our Beat, Our Gold was about how Nigerian’s experience football together,” he said. “From the first match to the last, the fans showed up with energy, belief and pride. The bronze medal adds to Nigeria’s rich AFCON history, but more importantly, it highlighted the strength of our football culture.”
Aroyehun reaffirmed Goldberg’s long-term commitment to the game and its supporters. “This campaign may be ending, but the rhythm continues. As long as Nigerians are watching football, debating, celebrating and believing, Goldberg will continue to stand with them.”
As AFCON 2025 slips into memory, Goldberg insists that what truly endures are the shared moments—the cheers, the drums, the conversations and the collective belief. In the final analysis, that spirit, the brand maintains, remains the real gold.
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Pressure is mounting on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to take decisive action following what many observers have described as a bizarre and deeply controversial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final between Senegal and hosts Morocco on Sunday.
While Senegal emerged as champions on the pitch, the aftermath of the final has been dominated by debate, outrage and sharply divided opinions—particularly in sections of the British media—over the conduct of the match, the behaviour of key actors, and the wider implications for African football.
One of the strongest reactions came from Jeremy Cross, a columnist with the UK’s Daily Star, who called for unprecedented sanctions in a scathing post-final commentary.
“Senegal must be made to forfeit the AFCON trophy to Morocco, and Pape Thiaw should receive a lifetime ban,” Cross wrote, arguing that CAF must act “for the sake of football’s respect and reputation.” In his column, Cross insisted that stripping Senegal of the title and awarding it to Morocco would send a clear message that misconduct at the highest level of the game would not be tolerated.
The call has added to growing external pressure on CAF, which is already reviewing reports from match officials and its disciplinary bodies following incidents that overshadowed what should have been a celebration of African football’s flagship event.
However, not all British voices have aligned with the punitive narrative. Renowned UK sports journalist Darren Lewis offered a sharply contrasting perspective, warning against what he described as a familiar and unfair framing of African football.
“We need to stop pushing the lazy narrative that what happened at the AFCON final is somehow a stain on all of African football,” Lewis argued.
Drawing comparisons with major incidents in European football, Lewis highlighted what he sees as a troubling double standard. He pointed to the violence and vandalism by England fans at Wembley after the Euro 2020 final, which was not portrayed as a failure of European football. He referenced the Calciopoli scandal in Italy, which exposed systemic corruption and led to Juventus’ relegation, yet did not delegitimise European club football as a whole. He also recalled Sheffield United walking off the pitch under Steve Bruce during an FA Cup tie against Arsenal—an episode never used to indict English football’s credibility.
“Same game. Same problems. Different judgment,” Lewis said. “AFCON isn’t the problem. The bias is.”
His intervention has resonated with many African football stakeholders who argue that while Sunday’s final raised legitimate concerns that CAF must address, it should not be weaponised to undermine the tournament or African football as a whole.
Within Africa, the focus remains firmly on CAF’s response. Observers expect the continental body to demonstrate firmness and transparency, whether through disciplinary measures, procedural reforms, or public clarification, to protect the integrity of its competitions. At the same time, there is growing insistence that accountability must be balanced with fairness, and that African football should not be held to harsher standards than its European counterparts.
As CAF deliberates, the AFCON final continues to reverberate beyond the trophy presentation. What was meant to be a showcase of African excellence has become a flashpoint in a wider debate about governance, perception and respect. How CAF responds may not only determine the fate of the final itself, but also shape how African football asserts its credibility on the global stage
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According to Egyptian news outlet Ahram, quoting the Algerian Football Federation (FAF), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has handed a two-match suspension to Algerian goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, following the chaotic aftermath of Algeria’s quarter-final defeat to Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The suspension of Luca Zidane is the most high-profile punishment among a raft of sanctions imposed by CAF’s disciplinary committee after Nigeria’s 2–0 victory, which sent the Super Eagles into the semi-finals and sparked disorder involving Algerian players, officials, and supporters at the final whistle.
In addition to Zidane’s ban, defender Rafik Belghali has been hit with a four-match suspension, with two of those games suspended. CAF also fined the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) a total of $100,000 for what it described as misconduct by the national team and the inappropriate behaviour of certain players, officials, and fans.
CAF clarified that all player suspensions will be served during the 2027 AFCON qualifying matches. As a result, Luca Zidane and Belghali will remain eligible to feature for Algeria at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, avoiding a ban from the global showpiece.
Reacting to the verdict, the Algerian Football Federation confirmed it would appeal the sanctions, insisting it would pursue all available institutional channels to defend the interests and reputation of Algerian football.
The suspension of Zidane, however, underscores CAF’s firm stance on post-match indiscipline and ensures that the fallout from Algeria’s AFCON exit will extend well beyond the final whistle in Rabat.
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Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has offered bonuses of more than $130,000 as well as plots of coastal land to each member of the country’s soccer team following their victory in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final against Morocco.
He spoke at a ceremony in the capital, Dakar, on Tuesday night,t during which thousands of jubilant supporters took to the streets to welcome the victorious Lions of Teranga home.
Senegal beat hosts Morocco 1-0 after extra time, having staged a walk-off after they had a penalty awarded against them deep in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes.
After the Senegal players returned to the pitch, Morocco missed the spot kick, and Pape Gueye then won the trophy with a superb strike four minutes into extra time.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Senegal players rode atop a bus emblazoned with the words “African champions” along Dakar’s corniche towards the presidential palace.
The bonuses of 75 million CFA francs ($134,892.09) for each of the squad’s 28 players total 2.1 billion CFA francs or $3.7 million. The players will also receive 1,500 square-metre plots of land.
In addition, Faye said members of Senegal’s soccer federation would receive 50 million CFA francs and 1,000 square-metre plots, while members of the Senegalese delegation to Morocco would receive 20 million CFA francs and 500 square-metre plots.
He said sports ministry staff would receive 305 million CFA francs in bonuses.
SENEGAL FACES DEBT WOES
The pledges come as Senegal grapples with debts that the International Monetary Fund said hit 132% of GDP at the end of 2024 after the current leadership uncovered billions in debts that were not reported by the previous administration.
The IMF froze a $1.8 billion lending programme over the controversy, forcing Senegal to rely heavily on regional debt auctions to meet its financing needs.
The new IMF mission chief travelled to Senegal for an introductory visit this week.
“Dear Lions, you have honoured the flag entrusted to you. You have honoured Senegal. You have shown by example that when Senegalese people move forward together with discipline and confidence, no challenge is beyond their reach,” Faye said on Tuesday while speaking on a stage in front of the presidential palace.
Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 2021, beating Egypt in the final. Back then, players were awarded bonuses worth 50 million CFA francs and 200 square-metre plots of land.
Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football, said in December that the winners of the 35th edition in Morocco would receive $10 million in prize money
-Reuters
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