Nigeria beat Jamaica on penalties to win the Unity Cup final at Charlton Athletic’s home ground, The Valley, after an afternoon that finished 2-2 even after extra time. Christantus Uche struck the decisive kick from 12 yards, and Nigeria converted all five of their penalties to claim a narrow victory and a third title in west London.

The match moved fast and stayed tight. Moses Simon opened the scoring for Nigeria on nine minutes, Kaheim Dixon equalised three minutes later, and Samuel Chukwueze restored Nigeria’s lead before Jonathan Russell levelled again ten minutes after that. By the time the game reached a shootout, both sides had already shown the kind of nerve that can decide a final, but Jamaica blinked at the crucial moment when Dwayne Atkinson missed his penalty and handed Nigeria the trophy.

The result gave Nigeria the cleanest possible finish to a tournament that had already asked plenty of both finalists. Nigeria had beaten Zimbabwe 2-0 in the semi-finals, while Jamaica reached the final by beating India 2-0, setting up a meeting between teams that arrived in west London with enough form to make the final feel like more than a one-off. The Unity Cup returned last year after 21 years away, with Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium hosting the competition and Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago among the teams making their bows in the revived event.

For Nigeria, the win also underlined their standing as defending champions in a close-season tournament built around countries with large London diasporas. But the final was not settled by reputation or by the goal rush that kept it level. It came down to one missed penalty and one made penalty, with Uche stepping up to finish the job after Jamaica had done enough to force the game to the edge of extra time and beyond.

That leaves Nigeria with the title and Jamaica with the hardest part of sport to carry back home: knowing they were close enough to touch it, then seeing it go in a single kick.