In front of a vibrant crowd at the Felix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Cameroon, started brightly with Zambo Anguissa finding Karl Toko Ekambi. Still, William Ekong blocked the striker’s shot.

Nigeria thought they had taken an early lead when Ajayi turned in Lookman’s 9th-minute corner, but VAR disallowed it for offside.

The Super Eagles did break through in the 36th minute after Victor Osimhen pounced on a defensive mistake to set up Lookman, who finished coolly past Ondo.

Cameroon could not deal with Nigeria’s intensity and conceded again just before full time when Lookman latched onto his own through ball before slotting home to make it 2-0.

The result sends Nigeria into a quarter-final clash with Angola, while Cameroon exits at the last 16 stage.

With their clinical victory in a TotalEnergies CAF AFCON  heavyweight about, Nigeria shows they have the quality and experience to end their long wait for a fourth continental title potentially.

“We had the youngest team; there are players who are discovering. We allowed the opponent to put us in difficulty; it’s part of the game. As I’ve said before, we are in reconstruction. It’s by making these mistakes that we will grow. Football is like that. The AFCON is a competition played on all levels: technical, tactical, and especially mental. I have a youth that is discovering; it played, and we still have much to learn.”

“We will now focus on our next match against Angola, which is having an excellent tournament. We must take this opponent seriously, so we will continue to sleep early and eat pasta (laughs). Jokes aside, all the teams at this stage can win the tournament.”