Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui has openly stated he would rather face Algeria than Nigeria in the semi-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, as his team is now faced with the Super Eagles challenge.
Morocco advanced to the last four with a 2-0 victory over Cameroon, secured by goals from Brahim Díaz and Ismael Saibari.
They will now meet Nigeria, who defeated Algeria 2-0 in quarter-final, a match where the Super Eagles dominated in both halfs.
Regragui acknowledged the historical and political tensions between Morocco and Algeria but emphasized that a semi-final between the neighbors would be a “celebration of football.”
His preference comes despite Nigeria boasting the tournament’s strongest attack—with 12 goals so far—while Algeria possesses its tightest defense, having conceded only once in four matches.
Historically, Algeria has had the upper hand over Nigeria, winning their last four encounters, including a 2-1 victory in the 2019 AFCON semi-finals. Overall, Algeria holds a narrow lead with 10 wins to Nigeria’s nine in their 22 meetings.
The highly anticipated Nigeria–Algeria match took place on Saturday in Marrakech.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
