Ghana-Nigeria football rivalry

Ghana-Nigeria football rivalry

2008 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Final
Teams	Ghana  Nigeria
First meeting	Ghana 1–0 Nigeria Friendly Accra (16 October 1950)
Latest meeting	Ghana 0–0 Nigeria Friendly Vicarage Road in Watford, Hertfordshire, England (11 October 2011)
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	56
Largest victory	Ghana 7–0 Nigeria Jalco Cup Accra (1 June 1955)

The Ghana–Nigeria football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans. The match-up is among the oldest an most proliferate rivalries in African football and has been played since prior to both countries' respective independence. The football rivalry reflects the long-standing socio-economic rivalry between the two nations which are the two of only four Anglophone nations in West Africa and are home to the largest populations in the region.^{[1] [2]}

Origin and background

FIFA lists the first official match between the two as a World Cup qualifier match which took place in 1960. However both national teams had already engaged in numerous domestic friendlies and tournaments between themselves and other nations dating back to 1950.^[3] The national teams of these two West African countries were formed while both were still protectorates of the British Empire. At that time the modern day nation of Ghana was known as the Gold Coast and Nigeria, prior to adopting their national colors of green and white, wore scarlet tops over white shorts and were known as the "Red Devils". ^[4]

Prior to what is often considered to be first official International "A" match in 1951 the Gold Coast national team had already toured England, playing friendly matches against various clubs. Not to be outdone, Nigeria followed suit to a lesser degree of success. Gold Coast's footballing federation, having been founded in 1920, was over twenty years older than Nigeria's and it's team was more respected among Britain's colonies. However, despite their relative histories, Nigeria was able to upset their nascent rivals 5-0 on home soil. The two nations played to relative parity for much of the rest of the decade, mostly trading victories on home soil, but Ghana would go on to dominate much of the competition between the 1960s and the early 2000s and win the Africa Cup of Nations four times to Nigeria's two in that time period; while Nigeria would enjoy more success in intercontinental competition, qualifying multiple times to the FIFA World Cup and reaching an African highest FIFA ranking of #5 in the world. The team further distinguished themselves with memorable runs to the knockout stages in 1994 and 1998, beating Spain and coming within minutes of defeating international powerhouses Argentina and eventual 1994 finalists Italy.

Regional Cup Era

Until 1960 Egypt was the only African nation to ever participate in FIFA World Cup qualifying. Since decolonization had yet to begun in earnest, few nations on the African continent were able to assemble national teams that were internationally recognized and thus eligible for FIFA competitions. Due to this, various rivalry cups and tournaments were instituted. During the 1950s and 1960s, Nigeria and Ghana would compete in three cup competitions.

• *Results of final Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup tournament are unknown. It is unconfirmed whether or not the tournament was abandoned.

Regional and International Cup Titles	Ghana	Nigeria
Africa Cup of Nations 1962-Present Biennial CAF Confederation championship	4	3
Jalco Cup 1951-1959	4	5
Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup* West African Soccer Federation championship	3	0
Azikiwe Cup 1961-1967*	5	0
Total	16	8

1951-59 Jalco Cup

Prior to 1951, there are various records of matches having been played between the national teams dating back to 1938. These unofficial matches list the scores and winners but, as with the match in 1938, specific details such as player lineups and often even the exact date that the match took place, are unknown. The Jalco Cup matches, which were sponsored by Nigerian Company Joe Allen & Co, are widely agreed upon as the beginning of the historical record of the rivalry. ^[5] The cup was contested between the two countries every year except 1952.

1959-67 Nkrumah Gold Cup

1959 Ghanaian postage stamp published to advertise the competition.

After Ghanain independence the country's football officials harbored ambitions of competing in the Olympic Games. To this end they met with officials from the most prominent West African nations, including Nigeria, to create the West African Soccer Federation. The aim of the new federation was to sponsor a regional football tournament which would help to raise the level of the game in the respective nations for future participation in international tournaments. The result was the Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup, also called the West African Soccer Federation championship.

The tournament had middling success; it was plagued from the outset by organizational and funding shortfalls. In the initial tournament in 1959, the qualifying stages were only partially completed. In addition, Nigeria did not appear for the semifinal of that tournament and the match had to be replaced with an exhibition game played as a stand-in. Also the fourth and final tournament in 1967 was postponed following issues having to do with the lack of lighting during the qualifying matches and subsequent complaints on the issue by the Sierra Leone players. There is no record of the final tournament ever having been completed.

Despite these issues, the tournament would see two matches played between Ghana and Nigeria, the high point being when the two sides met in the final of the 1960 tournament which Ghana won 3-0 in Lagos, Nigeria. Both matches played between the two sides during the life of the tournament were won by Ghana by a combined score of 8-0.

1961-1967 Azikiwe Cup

The figurative successor to the Jalco Cup, the Azikiwe Cup was named for Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was Nigeria's first post-colonial president. The tournament was initially contested under the same rotating, single match, format as the Jalco Cup, but was later switched to an aggregate home and away setup with each team hosting one match a piece.

Unlike the Jalco Cup, the teams did not share the cup in the event of a tie under the single leg format, but rather the cup returned to the nation that already held it. This only occurred in 1962 when Ghana secured a 0-0 result in Lagos and were able to retain the cup that they initially won in the first competition in 1961. Ghana won or retained the cup in every year that it was contested, beginning a dominant period in the rivalry broken only during a brief period in the mid 1970s and 1980s and lasting until early 2000s.

Matches

Statistics

Matches	Ghana wins	Draws	Nigeria wins	Goal difference
56	25	19	12	91:57

• *Ghana was organized under the Gold Coast Football Federation at this time until it's independence
• Table lists only senior team competitions. Olympics, underage competition and African Nations Championship matches are excluded
• Matches which go which are won after extra time with penalty kicks are listed as draws, per official FIFA designation.

#	Date	Competition	Venue	Home team	Score	Away team
1	16 October 1950	Friendly	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Gold Coast*	1–0	Nigeria
2	20 October 1951	Jalco Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	5–0	Gold Coast*
3	11 October 1953	Jalco Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Gold Coast*	1–0	Nigeria
4	30 October 1954	Jalco Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	3–0	Gold Coast*
5	28 May 1955	Friendly	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Gold Coast*	1–0	Nigeria
6	30 October 1955	Jalco Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Gold Coast*	7–0	Nigeria
7	27 October 1956	Jalco Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	3–0	Gold Coast*
8	27 October 1957	Jalco Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	3–3	Nigeria
9	25 October 1958	Jalco Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	3–2	Ghana
10	21 November 1959	Jalco Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	5–2	Nigeria
11	27 August 1960	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	4–1	Nigeria
12	10 September 1960	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	2–2	Ghana
13	9 October 1960	1960 Nkrumah Cup Final (West African Soccer Federation championship)	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–3	Ghana
14	29 October 1960	Independence Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	1–1	Ghana
15	8 April 1961	1963 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
16	30 April 1961	1963 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	2–2	Nigeria
17	1 June 1961	WAC	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	3–0	Nigeria
18	17 December 1961	1961 Azikiwe Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	5–1	Nigeria
19	3 January 1962	1963 African Cup of Nations Preliminary	Addis Ababa,  Ethiopia	Nigeria	1–1	Ghana
20	10 November 1962	1962 Azikiwe Cup	Surulere, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
21	24 February 1963	1961-63 Nkrumah Cup Semifinal	Kumasi, Ashanti Region	Ghana	5–0	Nigeria
22	30 October 1965	1965 Azikiwe Cup	Surulere, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–4	Ghana
23	7 November 1965	1965 Azikiwe Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	3–0	Nigeria
24	28 January 1967	1966 Azikiwe Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	2–2	Ghana
25	12 February 1967	1966 Azikiwe Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	2–0	Nigeria
26	21 October 1967	1967 Azikiwe Cup	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	2–1	Nigeria
27	23 December 1967	1967 Azikiwe Cup	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	2–2	Ghana
28	10 May 1969	1970 FIFA World Cup qualification	Ibadan, Lagos State	Nigeria	2–1	Ghana
29	18 May 1969	1970 FIFA World Cup qualification	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	1–1	Nigeria
30	8 January 1973	All African Games Group A	Surulere, Lagos State	Nigeria	4–2	Ghana
31	10 February 1973	1974 FIFA World Cup qualification	Surulere, Lagos State	Nigeria	2–3	Ghana
32	22 February 1973	1974 FIFA World Cup qualification	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	0–0	Nigeria
33	31 August 1975	Friendly	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	3–0	Nigeria
34	08 March 1978	1963 African Cup of Nations	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	1–1	Nigeria
35	21 July 1978	All African Games Group B	Algiers,  Algeria	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
36	01 May 1983	Friendly	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	1–0	Nigeria
37	05 March 1984	1984 African Cup of Nations	Bouaké,  Ivory Coast	Ghana	1–2	Nigeria
38	27 July 1986	CEDEAO Cup	Monrovia,  Liberia	Ghana	2–0	Nigeria
39	06 February 1987	ZONE 3 Semi-final	Monrovia,  Liberia	Ghana	3–1	Nigeria
40	2 September 1990	1990 African Cup of Nations	Kumasi, Ashanti Region	Ghana	1–0	Nigeria
41	13 April 1991	1992 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers	Surulere, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
42	2 November 1991	CEDEAO Cup 3rd place match	Abidjan,  Ivory Coast	Ghana	1–0	Nigeria
43	23 January 1992	1992 African Cup of Nations	Dakar,  Senegal	Ghana	2–1	Nigeria
44	9 March 1994	Friendly	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
45	28 August 1999	Friendly	Lagos, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
46	10 March 2001	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	0–0	Nigeria
47	28 July 2001	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	Port Harcourt, Lagos State	Nigeria	3–0	Ghana
48	3 February 2002	Friendly	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako  Mali	Nigeria	1–0	Ghana
49	15 December 2002	Friendly	Accra, Greater Accra Region	Ghana	0–1	Nigeria
50	23 February 2003	Friendly	Warri, Lagos State	Nigeria	0–0	Ghana
51	30 May 2003	LG CUP Semi-final	Abuja National Stadium, Abuja	Nigeria	3–1	Ghana
52	23 January 2006	2006 Africa Cup of Nations	Port Said,  Egypt	Nigeria	1–0	Ghana
53	6 February 2007	Friendly	Griffin Park, London  England	Ghana	4–1	Nigeria
54	3 February 2008	2008 Africa Cup of Nations	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra	Ghana	2–1	Nigeria
55	28 January 2010	2010 Africa Cup of Nations	Luanda  Angola	Ghana	1–0	Nigeria
56	11 October 2011	Friendly	Vicarage Road  England	Ghana	0–0	Nigeria

External links

• Details at 11v11.com
• History of Jalco Cup 1951-1959 - RSSF.com
• History of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Cup 1959-1967 - RSSF.com
• History of Azikiwe Cup 1961-1967 - RSSF.com

See also

• List of association football rivalries

References

1. "Ghanaians vs Nigerians: Sibling Rivalry". 11 January 2014. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
2. "Biggest Rivalry In Africa: Ghana vs. Nigeria". 2 February 2008. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
3. "Nigeria vs Ghana: Head to Head". 29 January 2014. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
4. "Nigeria,Ghana and the genesis of a rivalry". 22 November 2012. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
5. "History favours Ghana". 25 July 2001. Retrieved 2016-11-11.