Kelechi Iheanacho led the wild Nigeria celebrations as the country qualified for their first Africa Cup of Nations final since 2013.
In a game marred with controversy, Nigeria needed penalties to beat South Africa, with the Leicester forward scoring the decisive spot kick to send his side to Sunday’s final.
William Troost-Ekong gave his side the lead from the penalty spot in the 67th minute of what was a tight game, with South Africa looking to continue their fairytale run all the way to the last game.
The referee brought back play and, with VAR intervention, awarded South Africa a spot kick of their own, which Teboho Mokoena slotted home to take the game into stoppage time.
Kelechi Iheanacho led the celebrations as Nigeria beat South Africa on penalties in AFCON
The goal meant they qualified for their first final in the competition since 2013, where they will face hosts Ivory Coast
The team took a group photo following full time, as their despair from earlier in the game turned to joy
Despite South Africa’s Grant Kekana being sent off late on in the extra half hour, the underdogs held on and took the game to spot kicks.
Mokoena was however one of two players to miss his spot kick in the shoot-out, and South Africa goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams was unable to repeat his heroics from his side’s quarter-final win over Cape Verde.
The result was the final twist in what has been a semi-final that looked to be over in normal time when Osimhen scored what he thought was his second goal of the tournament.
When play stopped, with the forward and some of his team-mates still celebrating, VAR adjudged that Joe Aribo had fouled Mokoena in the penalty box at the other end of the pitch.
Iheanacho stepped up to take the winning kick after his side thought they had led 2-0 in normal time
Nigeria have to recover from Wednesday’s events to get themselves ready for Sunday’s final
But the despair once again turned to celebration a little over half an hour later, and Iheanacho led the way as South Africa players hit the floor in anguish.
The 27-year-old ripped off his shirt and wheeled away to get the party started, and was chased by his team-mates, who will face host Ivory Coast in the final.
