Watching Fulham’s Super Eagles soar in Morocco
Stephen shares his experience after watching the Naija Whites live in the AFCON quarter-finals.
It’s my annual winter blues-beating trip to North Africa, and when Morocco is announced as the home of AFCON for 2025/26, I can hardly believe my luck.
Having booked my tickets to the quarter-final far in advance, I was overjoyed when it was confirmed that the Marrakech date would see Algeria facing Nigeria, a country so closely linked to our beloved Fulham through a plethora of talented footballers.
Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukweuze all made this year’s squad, alongside former Fulham face Ademola Lookman. Ola Aina, another fan favourite from the past, is currently out of the side with injury.
Armed with my knock-off Nigerian replica top that I haggled in the market square (and probably still paid too much for) I find myself in the back of a tuk tuk en route to the Grande Stade de Marrakech, a 45,000 seater stadium nine kilometers from the city centre.
The roads are manic, busy with motorbikes, horns tooting, everyone in a mad rush to witness the big occasion. Shirts and supporters from all over Africa are cheering in their respective jerseys, though there is no sense of hostility or rivalry, just a union of people together ready to witness the special occasion that is football. I even spotted the very rare sight of another Fulham fan and, somehow, that dashing barcode kit of West Bromwich Albion.
Iwobi and Bassey make the starting line-up, and after more security checks then West Ham away, I make it just in time for kick-off. With a mixed-seater stadium completely dominated by Algerian fans, which makes sense given the extremely close vicinity of the country, I moved myself towards a group of Super Eagles supporters behind the goal. Armed with a lively band and horns, making more noise than the de-facto “home” crowd , it felt just like following Fulham away
.
Five minutes in, and Bassey, who chooses to have his first name written on his back for international duty, has managed to shoulder barge an opposition player so hard they fall to the sidelines, taking the assistant referee out in the process. No foul, just the brute strength we love to see from our centre-back.
If Bassey stands out for his power among the physicality of the Premier League, then in AFCON he takes it to another level! Shortly after Calvin nearly sticks one home at the back post, which is cleared off the line, so close it required an extended VAR check to determine that the entire ball hadn’t crossed over.
Iwobi, playing in the centre of the park, was pulling all of the strings across the entire match. He looked so comfortable in possession, passing with calmness and confidence, naturally completing the most passes out of all the players on the pitch. Watching him link up with the likes of Victor Osimhen, who opened the scoring to make it 1-0, was an absolute joy as Nigeria dominated from start to finish. If Marco Silva could just have a word with the Khan’s about signing him for Fulham… that would be great. Too optimistic?
With slick passing from back to front, and an intense non-stop press, Nigeria managed to reduce Algeria to just three shots all match, all of which were off target. It was no surprise when Akor Adams provided the second goal for the Super Eagles to kill the game, rounding up a bad day at the office for Algeria as Riyad Mahrez failed to inspire his side to victory, or even a close competitive match.
It was great to see Ademola Lookman who was very lively in his creative attacking midfield role, leaps and bounds above his performances for Fulham under Scott Parker. Another ‘what if?’ player from that era to add to the list. Unfortunately there was no game time for Samuel Chukweuze on this occasion. It was also a fun surprise to see Zinedine Zidane’s son Luca in goal for Algeria, no headbutts this time, but there was a large scrap at the end of the game!
As the final whistle blew the celebrations lasted long into the evening, with the Nigerian band taking the music to another level, the stewards had to strongly encourage the fans to eventually leave and it was like one giant party that bled out into the streets long afterwards.
AFCON as a whole has been a hugely positive experience so far, and at club level, Fulham have found more than capable replacements for our absentees. The likes of Jorge Cuenca, Tom Cairney and Harrison Reed, who have been rightfully champing at the bit for more game-time, have stepped up when it matters most, with results being largely unaffected. If Nigeria can go on to win the final, and our players remain injury-free, it would be the perfect tournament.
If you haven’t watched any AFCON matches yet, I would highly recommend tuning in to the finals, and of course, routing for the Fulham boys before they return to Craven Cottage.