Egypt and Nigeria are set to face off in an international friendly on Tuesday evening in Cairo as both sides put finishing touches on preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off this weekend.<\/p>\n
The match represents the final warm-up fixture for the two African heavyweights ahead of the continent\u2019s premier football tournament, scheduled to begin on Sunday, December 21, and run until January 18.<\/p>\n
Egypt\u2019s national team trained on Monday with focus and intensity as they prepared for the encounter. The seven-time AFCON champions are expected to travel to host nation Morocco immediately after the game to continue preparations for the group stage.<\/p>\n
Egypt have been drawn into a competitive group where they will face Zimbabwe, South Africa and Angola. Their AFCON campaign opens against Zimbabwe on December 22.<\/p>\n
Nigeria also held training sessions on Monday, using the friendly as an opportunity to fine-tune tactics and assess squad depth. Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle is expected to experiment with his lineup, largely due to the absence of several key players.<\/p>\n
Notable among the absentees are Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen and Paris FC winger Moses Simon, both of whom are yet to join the squad.<\/p>\n
At the tournament proper, Nigeria will compete in Group C alongside Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania, with all their group matches scheduled to be played in Fez, Morocco.<\/p>\n
Kickoff for Tuesday\u2019s friendly between Egypt and Nigeria is set for 18:00 GMT at the Cairo International Stadium.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Egypt and Nigeria are set to face off in an international friendly on Tuesday evening in Cairo as both sides put finishing touches on preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off this weekend. The match represents the final warm-up fixture for the two African heavyweights ahead of the continent\u2019s premier football<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,22],"tags":[2498,1387,2499,2497,2500,1467,2501],"class_list":{"0":"post-14730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-sports","9":"tag-afcon-2025","10":"tag-africa-cup-of-nations","11":"tag-african-football","12":"tag-egypt-vs-nigeria","13":"tag-international-friendly","14":"tag-pharaohs","15":"tag-super-eagles"},"yoast_head":"\n