Ex-Nigeria Star ‘Snubs’ Bafana Among AFCON Favourites

Former Nigeria Star Does Not Pick SA As AFCON Favourite. Photo: Gallo Images

Former Nigerian star Tijani Babangida chose not to pick South Africa as one of the pre-tournament favourites.

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Babangida spoke about Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) chances and he believes that the Super Eagles can redeem themselves by winning the continental tournament after failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The 52-year-old, who was part of Nigeria’s 1996 Summer Olympics triumph, listed the teams he believed would be among the AFCON favourites, Tribal Football reported.

While he singled out many of the African teams that qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, he did not mention South Africa or the defending champions Ivory Coast.

“Most of the African teams going to the 2026 World Cup look strong to win the AFCON,” he said. “You can see Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, although the Egyptians are in transition, Tunisia and even Congo, which defeated Nigeria, should not be ruled out,” he added.

The Nigerian, however, considered Morocco to be the overwhelming favourite to win it.

“When I look at Morocco, the team is a strong favourite to win AFCON,” he said. Morocco played in the semi-finals of the last FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and the country played in the semi-final of the last Olympics in Paris. The U20 team of Morocco won the FIFA U20 World Cup a few months ago in Chile,” he added.

He added that Morocco’s development at the age group level has contributed to its recent success, but he also said Nigeria could not be written off.

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“The team defeated top footballing nations like Brazil and France to win the tournament. The football developmental plan of Morocco is working fine, and everything is pointing to the Atlas Lions of Morocco to win the AFCON as host of the tournament, but there is no AFCON tournament that I will not consider Nigeria as one of the favourites,” he continued.

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