South Africa’s forward Zakhele Lepasa has said Nigeria is the strongest team in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
He believes the other three teams left in the competition do not have the ability to stop Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
Lepasa said Nigeria came into the tournament feeling disappointed because they did not make it to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and a lot of South African fans were happy about that because there’s a strong competition between the two countries.
Nigeria made it to the AFCON semifinals with a strong 2-0 win against Algeria. Victor Osimhen played a key role by scoring a goal and setting up another chance.
Nigeria will now face Morocco, the host nation, in the next round. Lepasa said on SABC News that “Nigeria are under pressure because they didn’t make it to the World Cup, which most people were happy about [in South Africa] since Nigeria is our main rival.
“They want to show that they are still the best, even though they didn’t make it. Right now, they are really the top team in the AFCON.
“They have scored fourteen goals and players like Osimhen and Lookman are playing a big role.”
When asked if Morocco could win the tournament, Lepasa said the Atlas Lions have been strong so far, but he wondered if they have really faced a top team yet.
“Yes, they can win it, but my question is: have they actually been challenged? If you watch their last few games, only the one against Cameroon was really a close match. They are at home and have been doing well, but they’ve also had some VAR calls go in their favor.
“When they have to play against Nigeria, I wonder: who will stop Lookman and Osimhen if you look at their defense?”
The Atlas Lions have scored nine goals, with Brahim Díaz scoring five of them, showing how much they depend on the Real Madrid player.
“If you depend on just one player against Nigeria, that’s the difference. Nigeria have Osimhen with four goals, Lookman with three, and other players also contributing.
“I don’t think they’ll make it past Nigeria without any trouble.”