Nigeria experienced a 2-1 friendly defeat against Egypt as part of their preparations for the AFCON 2025 tournament. The Pharaohs secured the victory with a decisive second-half goal from Mostafa Mohamed. Earlier in the match, Mahmoud Saber had opened the scoring for Egypt, but Chidozie Awaziem managed to level the score for Nigeria before halftime. Mostafa's winning strike meant that Eric Chelle's Nigerian squad suffered consecutive losses just ahead of their AFCON opener against Tanzania.

Both national teams opted for altered lineups in the friendly. Nigeria's coach, Eric Chelle, chose to field a second-string side, conspicuously leaving out key players such as Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Alex Iwobi. Paul Onuachu spearheaded the attack, with support from Sevilla’s Chidera Ejuke, while the central defense featured a new partnership between Igoh Ogbu and Nantes’ Chidozie Awaziem. Similarly, Egypt’s head coach, Hossam Hassan, rested star players like Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush. In their absence, Zizo proved to be the standout performer, contributing assists for both of Egypt's goals.

Egypt’s first goal came within the first half-hour when Al Ahly’s Mohamed Hany delivered a through ball to Zizo, who then squared it for Mahmoud Saber. Saber capitalized on the opportunity, slotting the ball into a largely vacated net. Nigeria, determined to avoid going into the halftime break trailing, launched a series of attacks late in the first half, which eventually paid off. One such offensive play resulted in a foul on the left side of Egypt's penalty area. Zaidu Sanusi took the ensuing free-kick, which was mishandled by Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy. The ball fortuitously fell to Chidozie Awaziem, who headed it in at the back post to restore parity.

However, less than ten minutes into the second half, Egypt regained their lead. Zizo controversially managed to bypass Nigeria’s offside trap before setting up Mostafa Mohamed, whose powerful shot beat Nigerian goalkeeper Amas Obasogie, who had replaced Stanley Nwabali at halftime. Egypt successfully defended their lead until the final whistle, marking their first victory against Nigeria since the 2016 AFCON qualifiers. This defeat further underscores a troubling pattern of inconsistent results for the Super Eagles, particularly when their star striker Victor Osimhen is not on the team. The squad notably struggled during World Cup qualifying matches, failing to secure a win in any of the five fixtures Osimhen missed, with his unavailability frequently cited as a significant factor in Nigeria's failure to qualify for the upcoming prestigious tournament.