Nigeria became the first African side to book their ticket to the 2016 Men's Olympic Football Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, after their CAF Africa U-23 Cup of Nations semi-final win against ten-man Senegal, while Algeria joined them shortly afterwards with a 2-0 victory over South Africa in the other semi-final.
The 1996 Gold Medal winners emerged victorious thanks to a 1-0 result​, with ​Nigeria captain Otebo Oghenekaro scoring in the 76th minute from the penalty spot after a deliberate handball in the box meant the hosts were forced to play the final quarter of an hour with ten men.​ A missed penalty just before the break by Senegal's Ibrahima Keita kept the tie goalless going into the second half and it remained a tense affair all the way to the final whistle with Oghenekaro's finish from 12 yards the only separation between the two sides.
Algeria will join Nigeria in Rio as the second of three African teams to play in the Men's Olympic Football Tournament next summer after Les Verts took down South Africa 2-0 in the second semi-final of the day. Oussama Darfalou scored for the north Africans eight minutes in and Mohammed Benkhemassa secured the victory with his finish five minutes after the break. Rio 2016 will be Algeria's first appearance at the Olympics since their quarter-final exit over 35 years ago at Moscow 1980.
Senegal will face South Africa in a third place play-off on Saturday to determine Africa's final representative at Rio 2016.