Nigeria V Ghana Head to Head

After delays, postponements and rescheduling, the dates for the World Cup play-off qualifiers between the Super Eagles and Ghana have at long last been finalised. The first leg takes place at the Cape Coast Stadium at 8.30 pm West African Standard Time on the 25th March, with the return fixture four days later in Abuja’s Moshood Abiola National Stadium at 6:00 pm.

With the huge prize of a place at this year’s World Cup up for grabs, a tournament of course Nigeria has a proud history in, the games between two of the continent’s fiercest rivals will be two of the most important they will have played against each other. Getting one over your rivals is one thing, but when doing it means you get to participate in the world’s greatest sporting event it really is special. The tournament being in Qatar adds another incentive, with the heat likely to be a factor that could even the playing field in favour of African nations, to the detriment of the European ones.

The latest soccer odds on the match shows that the bookies think it is going to be close, and both sets of fans, teams and staff will be confident they will progress. It is the perfect time to look back over the history of the fixture, to see which nation has the better record.

The Statistics

The first tie between the two giants of African soccer took place on 16th October 1950, Ghana playing under the Gold Coast Football Federation, something they did until their independence. Since then there have been a total of 52 matches, and Ghana historically have had the better of the fixture.

Of those, Ghana have won 25, there have been 19 draws, while the Super Eagles have been victorious 12 times. The goal difference in those matches is 91 to 57 in favour of Ghana. However when you look closer at the stats it is more encouraging for Nigeria.

When playing at home, Ghana have won 16 of the 23 games, drawing 6 and only losing once. That loss came in December of 2002. For games played in Nigeria, there have been 8 wins, 9 draws and 3 losses, but the last time one of those losses occurred was as far back as February of 1973.

If you take the last 10 fixtures on their own, the stats tell a completely different story. Nigeria have won 5 times, there have been 2 goalless stalemates, while Ghana have only triumphed 3 times.

Only looking at FIFA World Cup Qualification matches, the story is even brighter. The two teams have battled four times before for World Cup qualification. For the 1962 qualifiers to be held in Brazil a Ghanaian home victory and a 2 – 2 draw in Lagos, saw Ghana get the upper hand. For the Mexico 1970 qualifiers, it was a different story, with Nigeria winning 2 – 1 at home and holding their opponents to a 1 – 1 draw away.

The West Germany 1974 qualification matches came out narrowly in favour of Ghana, but the 2002 Japan and South Korea World Cup qualifiers, the first tournament to be held outside of South America, North America or Europe, ended emphatically in Nigeria’s favour. A tight 0 – 0 draw in Accra in March, was followed in July by a convincing 3 – 0 win in Harcourt to secure their place in the finals.

Photo Credit : https://historyofsoccer.info

The games at the end of march will be watched by tens of millions of fans, not just in Nigeria and Ghana but around the world. African football has come on immeasurably since these two giants started locking horns, and now it is no longer a case of simply getting to the finals, but progressing once they are there.

Latest reports suggest Super Eagle legend Victor Moses may even come out of retirement for the fixture, which would be a huge boost on and off the field. History suggests the first game could very well be tight, and a draw would see the Super Eagles go into the second leg as big favourites. We can only hope, wait and see.