AFCON 2025: CAF appoints Moroccan referee for Egypt, Nigeria third-place match

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Moroccan Jalal Jayed as the referee for Nigeria’s third-place playoff against Egypt in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

CAF announced Jayed’s appointment on Friday.

The Moroccan will be assisted by his compatriots Zakaria Brinsi and Akarkad Mostafa.

The assistant referee 3, according to CAF, is Hassani Khalil from Tunisia, while the 4th official is Peter Kamaku from Kenya.

Algeria’s Lahlou Benbraham will be the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). He will be assisted by Haythem Guirat from Tunisia and Hamza El Fariq (Morocco).

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The referee assessor is Sinko Zelli of Cote d’Ivoire.

Nigeria take on Egypt on Saturday, days after Morocco beat the Super Eagles 4-2 on penalties in the second semi-final of the 2025 AFCON.

The match ended goalless after 120 minutes, but the hosts saw off the three-time African champions to reach the final of the competition and take on the Teranga Lions of Senegal in Sunday’s final.

Nigeria take on Egypt on Saturday, days after Morocco beat the Super Eagles 4-2 on penalties in the second semi-final of the 2025 AFCON.

Saturday’s game is Nigeria’s ninth appearance in the third-place play-offs.

The Super Eagles have won all eight bronze medal games, the highest tally in the tournament’s history.

Nigeria missed out on the 2026 World Cup following a penalty shoot-out loss to DR Congo in the final of the play-offs for the competition.

They had turned to the AFCON to make up for that. En route to the semi-finals, the Super Eagles were prolific, scoring 14 goals including a 4-0 demolition of Mozambique and a dominant 2-0 victory over the Desert Foxes of Algeria.

However, against the Atlas Lions of Morocco on Wednesday, Coach Eric Chelle’s side struggled to find their imposing form. But they were composed in defence and kept the North Africans at bay.