By Gregory Tav
Guinea-Bissau consolidated their leadership of Group L of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series on Tuesday when they stunned Nigeria’s Super Eagles 3-0 inside the Estádio 24 de Setembro in Bissau in one of the biggest shocks of the qualifiers so far.
The Djurtus, known as the Wild Dogs, came into the encounter level on three points with Nigeria after both sides won their opening games. But on home soil, in front of a noisy capacity crowd admitted free into the stadium, they showed more hunger, more intensity, and more tactical discipline, and the Super Eagles paid dearly for a sluggish display.
From the blast of the whistle, the hosts started with remarkable intensity, a sense of purpose and ambition that immediately put Nigeria on the back foot. The early warning came in the 10th minute when the Guineans carved open the Eagles’ defence with a swift move down the right, but goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali read the danger well and rushed off his line to smother the chance before any damage could be done.
The reprieve was only temporary. Five minutes later, the stadium erupted. The ever-vibrant Franculino Dju, the Djurtus talisman who has been in fine form for his club, picked up the ball on the right wing, cut inside of Bruno Onyemaechi who was left flat-footed, and unleashed a powerful low shot that flew past Nwabali into the far corner. It was 1-0 to Guinea-Bissau and a deserved lead.
Nigeria struggled to respond. The midfield trio failed to impose themselves, and the forward line of Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman was starved of service. The hosts continued to look the more dangerous side, and Dju was again looking for blood in the 42nd minute when he waltzed his way into the Nigeria box after a defensive mix-up between Calvin Bassey and Semi Ajayi, but with only Nwabali to beat, he blasted his effort over the crossbar. The miss kept Nigeria in the game going into the break, but the performance in the first half was one of the poorest under coach Éric Chelle.
Chelle, who had watched his team come from behind to beat Madagascar 2-1 in Uyo four days earlier, knew something had to change. At the beginning of the second half, he brought in Moses Simon and Moses Usor, the debut goalscorer from the Madagascar game. The changes injected some urgency into Nigeria’s game and the Eagles livened up somewhat.
In the 50th minute, Usor, full of confidence after his dream debut, drove forward from midfield and forced a good save from the Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper Jonas Mendes. Three minutes later, Moses Simon, after a clever interchange with Lookman, found himself with a clear sight of goal from close range, but his shot was too feeble and too central to trouble Mendes.
Just when Nigeria seemed to be building momentum, Guinea-Bissau struck again. In the 56th minute, Nwabali had to be at his best to parry away a vicious close-range shot by Dju after another defensive lapse. But the warning was not heeded. Nine minutes later, in the 65th minute, the hosts doubled their advantage. A sweeping team move that started from deep in their own half carved open the Nigerian defence, with quick one-touch passes, and at the end of it was Mama Baldé, the experienced Lyon forward, who calmly placed the ball beyond the reach of Nwabali for 2-0.
The goal deflated the Super Eagles. Chelle threw in more attacking players, pushing full-backs high and leaving spaces behind, but the cutting edge was missing. Osimhen headed wide from a Simon cross in the 78th minute, and Lookman saw a curling effort tipped over in the 84th.
With Nigeria throwing men forward in search of a consolation goal in added time, they were caught on the counter. Five minutes into added time, substitute Alvaro Djalo, who had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes, latched onto a long clearance, outpaced Ajayi, and finished with a classic low drive past Nwabali to make it 3-0.
The final whistle was met with wild celebrations in Bissau and stunned silence from the Nigerian bench.
The defeat means Nigeria remain in second place in Group L with three points, three points behind leaders Guinea-Bissau who now have six points from two games. Only one team will qualify from the group, because Tanzania, one of the three co-hosts for AFCON 2027 alongside Kenya and Uganda, are playing in the group for ranking purposes only. Madagascar and Tanzania, who drew 1-1 in Meknes, Morocco also on Tuesday, have a point each.
It appears that for the Super Eagles who finished third at AFCON 2025 but missed out on the 2026 World Cup, the road to Morocco 2027 has now become more complicated.
Next up for the Super Eagles is a home encounter against Tanzania’s Taifa Stars in Uyo on November 13th, before they fly to Dar es Salaam for their Day 4 encounter against the same team on November 17th.
