Cristiano Ronaldo, playing against Nigeria for the first time in his glittering career, did not get on the score sheet as Portugal narrowly defeated Super Eagles 2-1 in an international friendly match on Wednesday.
Akor Adams had restored parity after Pedro Neto gave Portugal the lead in the first half, but Francisco Conceicao scored a second half winner to seal the win for the European side.
Portugal rounded off their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where they will face Nigeria’s conquerors en route to the mundial, Democratic Republic of Congo; Uzbekistan; and Colombia in the group stage.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament after losingin the CAF playoff final, marking their second consecutive absence from the tournament.
Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle made five changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Robert Lewandowski’s Poland in their previous outing.
Alex Iwobi came into the lineup for his 100th appearance, joining an exclusive group of Nigerian internationals to have reached the century mark, while Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru were also handed starts and Christian Akpan made his debut.
Igoh Ogbu was ruled out through injury, while Emmanuel Fernandez, Terem Moffi, Abdullahi Bewene and Frank Onyeka began the match on the bench.
Ronaldo had the game’s first attempt, but his effort was over the crossbar. The Al Nassr forward should have given Portugal the lead moments later, only to shoot wide after excellent work from Nelson Semedo down the right flank.
Nigeria responded with a chance of their own as Akor Adams squandered a good opportunity to open the scoring in an entertaining end-to-end contest.
The 2016 European champions eventually broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. A long ball into the penalty area found Diogo Dalot, who cut the ball back for Pedro Neto to control before calmly slotting past Maduka Okoye.
Nigeria’s Udinese goalkeeper was called into action shortly afterwards, producing a brilliant save to deny Bruno Fernandes as Portugal piled on the pressure.
However, the Super Eagles drew level in the 37th minute through Adams. The striker finished brilliantly through the goalkeeper’s legs to score his sixth international goal and level the scoreline, as the first half ended 1-1.
Conceicao Seals Win For Portugal
Portugal head coach Roberto Martínez made several changes at half-time, and one of his substitutes, João Félix, nearly restored parity, but his effort was saved by Okoye after finding space inside the box.
Moments later, Félix came close again and his powerful strike beat Okoye but crashed against the crossbar, with replays showing the ball had not completely crossed the line.
Portugal eventually found the breakthrough in the 75th minute when another substitute, Conceição, curled a superb effort into the bottom corner to put his side ahead.
Bewene, who had come on earlier produced a brilliant challenge to deny the impressive Felix, before Samu was denied by another good stop from Okoye.
The victory ensured Portugal maintained their perfect record against Nigeria, having also recorded a commanding 4-0 win when the two nations last met in 2022.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Super Eagles players celebrate Adams’ equalizer.
