Viktor Osimhen was the hero with a goal and an assist in Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Algeria. Nigeria thus set up a clash against hosts Morocco in the semifinal of the AFCON.
Algeria goalkeeper Luca, son of French legend Zinedene Zidane, was at the centre of a chaotic post-match brawl after his team was knocked out of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals by Nigeria on Saturday in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Nigeria won the match 2-0 to advance to the semifinals but soon after the final whistle, chaos descended on to the pitch. Algerian players reached out to the referee regarding his calls earlier in the match and soon players from both sides got involved in a heated spat that grabbed attention of football fans.
Luca Zidane grabs attention in post-match chaos
Luca was at the centre of the chaotic on-ground scenes in Marrakesh. Videos show the 27-year-old clashing with Nigeria midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru. He physically grabbed Dele-Bashiru before Nigerian players joined in to pull their teammate. The goalkeeper was also seen involved in a heated verbal exchange with Raphael Onyedika.
Luca Zidane fought with Fisayo Dele-Bashiru at the end of the match… In the second part of the video, the refereeing body were targeted by the Algerian staff. 🤯🤯
Catastrophic end to the Algeria-Nigeria game in Marrakech…
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) January 10, 2026
The trigger to the incident was a first-half handball incident that was not given by referee, leaving the Algerian players frustrated. As Algerian players rushed towards the referee, Nigerians too joined in and scenes soon turned ugly with pushing and shoving all around.
The referee had to be escorted away by security personnel and the players kept arguing even in the stadium corridors after leaving the pitch. Security officials ultimately doused the fire to put an end to the incident.
Nigeria join Egypt, Morocco, Senegal in AFCON semifinals
Earlier in the game, Viktor Osimhen was the hero with a goal and an assist in Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Algeria. Nigeria thus set up a clash against hosts Morocco in the semifinal of the competition. Egypt will take on Senegal in the other semifinal.
Luca, who had kept clean sheets all through the tournament coming into the quarterfinal, could not stop Osimhen and Akor Adams from finding the net to end his tournament on a disappointing note.
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