Nigeria’s Football Record

NIGERIA’S EXPLOITS IN FOOTBALL

• Nigeria has appeared six times in FIFA organised World Cup tournaments, the first time being in 1994. It reached the round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014. Except for the 2006 edition, the Nigerian team has appeared in all the World Cup tournaments since it made the first entry in 1994.
• Nigeria played its first international match on October 8, 1949 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The match ended 0 – 2 in favour of Nigeria.
• The country’s biggest win ever was the match with Dahomey (Benin Republic), on November 23, 1959 in Lagos, where the Nigerian team spanked its next door neighbours 10 – 1.
• Nigeria suffered its worst defeat on the Accra turf on June 1, 1955 when its team was thrashed 7- 0 by the Gold Coast (Ghana) squad.
• The country’s team has so far appeared in 18 editions of the African Cup of Nations. It started in 1963 and has emerged champions three times – 1980, 1994 and 2013.
• Nigeria has also appeared three times in the African Nations Championship, with its first outing being that of 2014. Its best result so far was a runner-up position in 2018.
• It has appeared three times also in the West African Football Union (WAFU) championship with a debut in 2010, which it also emerged the champion.
• The country also made two appearances at the Confederations Cup with the best outing being a fourth placement in 1995, which was also its debut.
• The Nigerian team won Gold medal at the All African Games held in Lagos in 1973 and got a Silver medal in its outing in Algiers, in 1978.
• The highest FIFA ranking of Nigeria’s senior team, the Green Eagles, remains the 5^th position achieved in April, 1994. Incidentally, that remains the highest ranking ever achieved by any African team.