Former Coaches Split Over Iwobi, Nwabali Afcon XI Snub

The omission of Super Eagles stars Alex Iwobi and Stanley Nwabali from the CAF Afcon 2025 Best XI sparked debate on Soccer Africa on SuperSport. After the tournament in Morocco, CAF’s Technical Study Group named a Team of the Tournament featuring four players each from hosts Morocco and Senegal, and three Nigerians. Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen and Calvin Bassey made the list alongside Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Moussa Niakhaté, Noussair Mazraoui, Pape Gueye, Idrissa Gueye, Brahim Díaz and Sadio Mané. Pape Gueye was preferred to Iwobi in midfield, while Bounou edged Nwabali in goal.

Defending the picks, Sudesh Singh said, “I think when you look at the performance of all the players, it was very fair… Pape Gueye… was outstanding in this tournament.” Ashley Nakazwe disagreed, insisting, “Nwabali could have been there, he deserves to be there, he's a great goalkeeper.” Nwabali later earned Man of the Match for Nigeria.