New Telegraph

Qatar 2022: Nigeria, Ghana battle for World Cup ticket

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will have to beat perennial rivals Ghana to the ticket for the next FIFA World Cup slated to hold in Qatar later in the year following a draw that was held in Douala, Cameroon on Saturday.

Nigeria was one of five seeded teams based on the November 2021 FIFA Rankings, while Ghana was drawn from Pot 2.

 

According to the draw for the Qatar 2022 African series play-off draw held in Yaounde on Saturday evening, four–time African champions Ghana will host the first leg with the reverse encounter in Nigeria, both to hold between March 24th – 29th. The draw was conducted by Samson Adamu, CAF’s Director of Competitions, and African football legends El Hadj Diouf and Emmanuel Adebayor.

 

The Super Eagles emerged from a group comprising themselves, Liberia, Cape Verde, and the Central African Republic to be eligible for the playoffs, while the Black Stars prevailed over South Africa 1-0 on the final day in an explosive and controversial duel in Cape Coast.

 

Ethiopia and Zimbabwe were the other teams in the pool. Nigeria has played against Ghana more than any other country in the world in football, with a total of 57 senior matches between both countries in 71 years.

 

Ghana has won 19 of those clashes with Nigeria winning 16, and 19 drawn. Ghana has been bundled out of the ongoing 33rd Africa Cup of Nations, earning only one point in three matches and losing to Morocco and Comoros, while scoring only three goals and conceding five.

 

Nigeria is the only country to make a clean sweep of the stakes in the group phase, winning all three matches, scoring six goals and conceding one, and squares up with Tunisia in a Round of 16 match in Garoua on Sunday.

 

In the past, Nigeria and Ghana have clashed in qualifying campaigns for 1962, 1970, 1974, and 2002 World Cup finals. In the most recent, Ghana and Nigeria stalemated 0-0 in Accra and the Eagles won 3-0 in Port Harcourt to qualify for the 2002 finals in Korea/Japan.

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