Nigeria vs: Madagascar AFCON 2027 qualifier – preview, teams, prediction

Who: Nigeria vs Madagascar What: AFCON 2027 qualifier Where: Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Nigeria When: Friday, September 25, at 5pm (16:00 GMT) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up from 13:30 GMT before our live text commentary stream.

Nigeria and Madagascar kick off their qualifying campaigns for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations , which will be held across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

While the Super Eagles reached the semifinals of the last two AFCON tournaments, they have failed to qualify for successive World Cups and coach Eric Chelle will be extra eager to start the qualification campaign with a win, and his side will be strong favourites.

Meanwhile, Madagascar, whose national team are nicknamed Barea, will attempt to emulate their last shock win over the Super Eagles – a 2-0 victory at AFCON 2019.

The Madagascans were making their AFCON debut that year and got as far as the quarterfinals but have not reached another tournament since.

Chelle has called on his Super Eagles side to impose themselves from the whistle as he demands a winning start to the qualification campaign.

“We have to show everyone from day one that we want it, and the only way to do that is to go for it with our hearts, and refuse to slow down at any point,” Chelle told reporters before the game.

After hosting Madagascar, Nigeria will fly to Guinea-Bissau for their next qualifying game on Tuesday.