Anytime you hear Ghana vs Nigeria or Nigeria vs Ghana in any football competition, fans of the two rival countries start the drama that has coloured their football encounters since the 1960s. Already football enthusiasts in the two African nations have taken to social media to react to the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification play-off draw that pitched Nigeria against Ghana as conducted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the administrative and controlling body for African association football, held on Saturday, January 22, 2022 in Douala, Cameroon. The draw was supervised by CAF Competitions Director Samson Adamu, assisted by CAF legends El Hadji Diouf and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Now here is the twist.
According to the Home of football statistics and history, Ghana and Nigeria have engaged in 49 international football encounters with Ghana having won a lion’s share of 21. 18 of those matches have ended in a draw and Nigeria won only 10. This massive football record puts Ghana ahead of Nigeria in the upcoming Qatar 2022 Third and Final Round of the African Qualifiers with one of the countries to take one of the five tickets allotted to Africa for the global showpiece that will take place in Qatar from November 21. Ghana’s biggest FIFA world cup win against Nigeria was a 4-1 win on August 28, 1960 with Nigeria replying in a 3-0 win against the Black Stars on July 28, 2001, making FIFA encounters 2 a piece.
1960 aggregate: Ghana 6-3 Nigeria
1969 Aggregate: Nigeria 3-2 Ghana
1973 aggregate : Ghana 3-2Nigeria
2001 aggregate : Nigeria 3-0 Ghana
The last time the two countries met in an international friendly was in October 2011 which ended nil-nil.
Connoisseurs of the game however say games between the two countries are not guided by current form, especially with Ghana’s low form at the ongoing CAF nations championship in Cameroon seen as a tournament to forget.
Following are the encounters, set to begin March 2022.
Egypt v Senegal
Cameroon v Algeria
Ghana v Nigeria
DR Congo v Morocco
Mali v Tunisia
