Nigeria's Super Eagles delivered their most commanding performance of the Africa Cup of Nations 2026 tournament on Sunday evening, crushing rivals Ghana 3-0 in Rabat's Grand Stade to book their place in the quarter-finals and send a powerful statement to the continent's remaining contenders.

Victor Osimhen was the architect of the destruction, scoring a clinical brace before setting up Ademola Lookman for the third as the Eagles dominated every facet of the game against a Ghanaian side that looked tactically outmanoeuvred from the opening whistle.

Match report

Nigeria took the lead on 23 minutes when Osimhen latched onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Frank Onyeka and finished low into the corner past goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi. The lead was doubled just before the half-hour mark when a Lookman corner was met powerfully by William Troost-Ekong at the near post.

Ghana had their best spell early in the second half and forced two saves from Stanley Nwabali, but Nigeria's defence — marshalled brilliantly by Troost-Ekong and Calvin Bassey — held firm. Osimhen sealed the victory on 71 minutes with a superb individual effort, cutting inside from the left and curling into the top corner before turning to find Lookman for the third.

"We talked this week about making a statement. I think we did that today. Now we go match by match — the quarter-final is what matters." — Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle

Quarter-final outlook

Nigeria will face either Morocco or Senegal in the quarter-final on Saturday in Casablanca. Both Osimhen and Lookman are fit despite pre-match injury concerns, and the squad's mood is described by insiders as the most positive it has been during the tournament.