Nigeria swept into the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with a commanding 4-0 victory over Mozambique in Fes (BBC.co.uk 2026)

This is how the BBC reported on Nigeria's win over Mozambique in their last-16 match at AFCON. To sweep into the next round (quarter-finals; final, etc.) suggests that they did so easily (and quickly). They easily defeated their opponents. 

Sweep - swept

• To sweep aside is also to easily defeat an opponent but the main focus is on the opponent (Nigeria swept Mozambique aside) - see also sweep past.
• To sweep into the quarter-final is to easily win a game with the additional information about what this win means (i.e. qualifying for the next round).

This is how the BBC described Mali's win over Tunisia in their last-16 AFCON (2025) tie.

To ride their luck means that a team could have lost the game on many occasions but still ended up winning (or drawing) the game. In this game Mali had a player sent off in the first half and then conceded in the 88th minute. They then scored a penalty in the 96th minute to equalise and hung on to win on penalties - they even missed their first spot kick!

They definitely rode their luck!

This happened in AFCON 2025 when Mohamed Salah was on the bench for Egypt as his team had already qualified. He was an unused sub for Egypt. 

To squeeze past someone means to move past someone in a narrow space so it is quite dificult to move by so in football, to squeeze past another side means the victory was a difficult or a close one. 

And as the clocked ticked into added time it was Salah who latched on to a loose ball in the penalty area to poke home and seal three points for the seven-time champions (BBC.co.uk)

This is how the BBC match report described Mo Salah's wining goal for Egypt against Zimbabwe.

We know that 'home' is often used to describe scoring a goal (e.g. head home means to score with a header). To poke the ball means that a player is reaching for the ball with their foot so maybe they kick it with the toe (or near the toe). It is not always a strong shot but it is quick so it often catches out the keeper. So Salah's shot was not a hard one but it was accurate and he managed to stab the ball home or as in this report: poke the ball home.

El Kaabi’s stunning strike caps Morocco’s win over Comoros in Afcon opener

1. Stunning strike: A really wonderful shot/goal
2. To cap a win: To seal the win; the verb 'cap' suggests that it is the deciding goal
3. A win over (opponent): The word 'over' is the same as 'against' - A win against Comoros
4. AFCON opener: The opening game; the first game of the tournament

Nervy - a short form of nervous so it was a win for Morocco but it was not so easy or simple; they did not play very well and made lots of errors. A nervy win.