Portugal defeated the Super Eagles of Nigeria 2-1 in an international friendly played on Wednesday night, www.aclsports.com reports.
Portugal and Nigeria faced each other in Leiria in what was the hosts’ final test match ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.
It is just the first time since 2022 when they last met in a friendly game in Lisbon, where the Portuguese won 4-0. Wednesday’s encounter was different, as the Super Eagles gave a good account of themselves.
Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez named a strong starting eleven that includes skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, while his counterpart, Eric Chelle, handed a recall to midfielder Alex Iwobi to start on his 100th cap for the Super Eagles. Following his excellent showing against Poland, Maduka Okoye continued between the sticks, while Akor Adams started upfront once again.
In the opening minutes of the game, Ronaldo missed a great opportunity to put the home side ahead. The former Real Madrid man lost his marker inside the box, only to fire his effort just wide of the left post after getting on the end of a fine pass from the right side. Despite some incredible work to set himself up, Akor Adams also missed the chance to score for the Super Eagles at the other end moments later.
After a period of sustained pressure, the hosts went in front midway through the first half. Diogo Dalot’s ball was easily buried by the unmarked Pedro Neto. Portugal almost doubled their lead, but Okoye made a fine stop to deny Bruno Fernandes. Just minutes after that save, Nigeria got themselves level in the game through Adams after a pass from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru. The half ended 1-1.
Despite making so many changes, Portugal came close to regaining the lead when Joao Felix was denied by Okoye once again. From that moment on, it was the home side who dominated proceedings. Chelle responded with the introduction of Abdullahi Bewene, Terem Moffi, Frank Onyeka, and Zaidu Sanusi.
In the final quarter of the game, Portugal took the lead again after some beautiful work by Francisco Conceicao. The winger made a good run, skipped past a couple of defenders, before firing into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box. That eventually became the match winner as the West Africans lost a game for the first time since the 2025 AFCON semifinal defeat in January.
Eric Chelle and his boys will not return to action until September, when the 2027 AFCON qualifiers get underway.
