đź”— Share this article The Super Eagles Secure Afcon Last 16 Spot In Spite of Late Carthage Eagles Comeback Ex- Continent's Best Player of the Year the Napoli star was instrumental in his team build a commanding advantage, before the Super Eagles were forced to hold on for a narrow victory. The three-time champions survived a dramatic comeback attempt from their opponents to advance to the last 16 of the Afcon tournament being held in Morocco. Jose Peseiro's side seemed to be in complete control in their Group C clash in the Moroccan city, enjoying a 3-0 lead with just a quarter of an hour left thanks to goals from their attacking trio. Yet, Montassar Talbi pulled one back with a powerful header from a Manchester United midfielder free-kick, sparking hopes of a recovery. The tension escalated when the North Africans were given a spot-kick after a VAR review spotted a handling offense by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi calmly slotted home in the dying stages to set up a frantic conclusion. Tunisia were inches away from a last-gasp equalizer in stoppage time, with captain Ferjani Sassi heading a chance just past the post before a substitute sent a bobbling volley wide of the goal frame. Clinching First Place The victory means that the Super Eagles, champions of the competition on three past instances, advance to 6 group points and are assured first place in their pool with one game left to be contested. For the round of 16, they will face a best third-place team from one of the other preliminary groups. In the other match, Tunisia stay on 3 group points, with Uganda and Tanzania locked on one point each after playing out a 1-1 draw earlier on Saturday. The final pool matches will see the group leaders remain in the city to take on Uganda on the next matchday, while Tunisia travel back to Rabat to face Tanzania. An Anxious Finish Ali Abdi smashed the ball from the penalty spot to offer Tunisia a glimmer of hope of snatching a draw. The Super Eagles, runners-up in the 2023 tournament, are the next team after Egypt to qualify for the knockout stage, but their manager and fans will undoubtedly be breathing a sigh of relief. What looked like set to be a straightforward last period morphed into a nerve-wracking affair. The prolific striker had a goal disallowed for offside before opening the scoring right before the interval, expertly guiding a header into the bottom corner from an Ademola Lookman delivery. The advantage was doubled early in the second period when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to power home a powerful nod from a Lookman corner. Osimhen then set up Lookman for the third goal, only for Montassar Talbi to steer a powerful header past the Nigerian shot-stopper to initiate the fightback. The pivotal moment arrived when a high ball struck the forearm of the full-back, with referee Boubou Traore pointing to the spot after consulting the VAR monitor. Although the defender's successful penalty, Tunisia ultimately came up just short of pulling off a remarkable recovery. Their fate remains in their own hands; a draw against Tunisia will be enough to see them through, and manager Sami Trabelsi will be keen to prevent a recurrence of the past early elimination that led to his previous resignation.