Super Eagles striker Akor Adams has received major continental recognition after his goal against Algeria in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was officially listed among the top five goals of the tournament by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The selection was announced on the official CAF TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 X account, highlighting the most outstanding strikes from the finals in Morocco.
Adams’ goal came in Nigeria’s convincing 2–0 quarter final victory over Algeria, where he calmly finished past the goalkeeper after receiving a perfectly weighted pass from Victor Osimhen, doubling the Super Eagles’ lead and helping secure their place in the semi final. The strike was praised for its technical quality, composure and timing at a crucial phase of the competition.
This was Adams’ second goal of the AFCON 2025 tournament, following an eye catching strike earlier in the Round of 16 against Mozambique. CAF’s top five list also featured goals from Morocco’s Ayoub El Kaabi, Cameroon’s Christian Kofane, Algeria’s Adil Boulbina, and Senegal’s Pape Gueye, showcasing a range of spectacular finishes that defined key moments of the finals.
Adams’ inclusion underlines his growing importance for Nigeria on the continental stage, reinforcing his status as one of the standout performers from the Super Eagles’ AFCON campaign, which ended in a third-place finish.
EDITORIAL
In the choreography of football’s defining moments, goals are more than mere increments on a scoresheet they are the crystallisation of instinct, timing and technical grace under pressure. That Akor Adams’ strike against Algeria has been named among the top five goals of AFCON 2025 is a fitting tribute to such an intersection where individual brilliance intersects with collective aspiration.
Adams’ goal came at a junction in the quarter-final where match temperament often supersedes audacity. To receive the ball in space, drive forward with purpose and finish with calm precision all under the scrutiny of continental knockout intensity is to translate confidence into art. CAF’s recognition acknowledges not simply the aesthetic qualities of the goal, but its contextual significance a strike that helped tilt the balance in Nigeria’s favour, etching itself into the broader narrative of a Super Eagles side on a memorable run in Morocco.
Football often brands its icons through cumulative achievement captains’ leadership, strikers’ scoring charts yet sometimes a single moment, a burst of individuality at the right time, captures the imagination. Adams’ name now sits alongside other contributors from AFCON 2025 whose goals were not only technically superb but instrumental in shaping their teams’ journeys.
His inclusion also speaks to the health of Nigerian football’s current crop players capable of influencing matches on the biggest stages, blending tactical discipline with the instinct to seize opportunity. In celebrating this goal, we are reminded that football’s power lies not just in results, but in the memorable passages of play that linger long after the final whistle.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Akor Adams’ goal came in Nigeria’s 2–0 quarter-final win over Algeria at AFCON 2025, helping secure their place in the last four.
- The strike was Adams’ second of the tournament, with his first coming in the Round of 16 against Mozambique.
- CAF’s top five list selects goals based on both technical quality and match impact, not just aesthetics.
- The other goals on CAF’s Elite top five included a stunning bicycle kick by Ayoub El Kaabi of Morocco.
- Senegal’s Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner in the AFCON final also made the top five, underlining the variety of memorable moments in AFCON 2025.
