Ghana–Nigeria football rivalry

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

Teams Ghana
 Nigeria
First meeting Ghana 1–0 Nigeria
Friendly
(16 October 1950)
Latest meetingNigeria 0–0 (1–4 p) Ghana
2014 African Nations Championship
(29 January 2014)
Next meetingTBD
Statistics
Meetings total56
All-time seriesGhana: 25
Draw: 19
Nigeria: 12
Largest victoryGhana 7–0 Nigeria
Jalco Cup
(1 June 1955)

Background and history

FIFA lists the first official match between the two as a World Cup qualifier taking 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 nation of Ghana was known as the Gold Coast and members of the team from 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]

Gold Coast's football federation, founded in 1920, was over twenty years older than Nigeria's and its team was more respected among Britain's colonies. Prior to what is often considered to be first official International "A" match in 1951, the Gold Coast national team had also already toured England, playing friendly matches against various clubs. Not to be outdone, Nigeria followed suit to a lesser degree of success. 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 1950s, mostly trading victories on respective 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. In the meantime, Nigeria would enjoy more success in intercontinental competition, qualifying multiple times for the FIFA World Cup and reaching an African highest FIFA ranking of No. 5 in the world in 1994. The team further distinguished themselves with memorable runs to the knockout stages that year and 1998, beating Spain and coming within minutes of defeating international powerhouse 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 begin in earnest, few nations on the African continent were able to assemble national teams that were internationally recognized and thus eligible for FIFA competitions. Various rivalry cups and tournaments were instituted instead. During the 1950s and 1960s, Nigeria and Ghana would compete in three cup competitions.

1951–59 Jalco Cup
Nigeria Red Devils - Jalco Cup Champions - 1956

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 first well-documented matches were organized under the banner of the Jalco Cup, a competition sponsored by the Ford Motor Company by way of a subsidiary, Joe Allen & Company (J.Allen & Co.) [5][6]for whom the cup was named. It is generally held to be the beginning of the rivalry's historical record.[7] The cup was contested between the two countries every year except 1952.

1959–67 Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup
1959 Ghanaian postage stamp published to advertise the Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup.

After Ghanaian 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 in Lagos, Nigeria in which Ghana won 3–0. Both matches played between the two sides during the life of the tournament were won by Ghana by a combined score of 8–0.

1961–67 Azikiwe Cup

The figurative successor to the Jalco Cup, the Azikiwe Cup was named for Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was Nigeria's first postcolonial 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 apiece.

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 had 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 competition in 1961. Ghana won or retained the cup in every year that it was contested, continuing a dominance in the rivalry stemming in the early 1960s broken only during a brief period in the mid-1970s and 1980s and lasting until early 2000s.

Titles
Ghana Competition Nigeria
4African Cup of Nations3
8Jalco Cup/Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup/Azikiwe Cup8
3West African Football Union Nations Cup0
15Aggregate11

Matches between the two countries: Tournaments and friendlies

Totals
Matches  Ghana
Total Wins		 Draws  Nigeria
Total Wins		 Goal
Difference
56 25 19 12 91:57
 Ghana
Home Matches		 Wins Draws Losses Last Defeat
23 16 6 1 15 Dec 02
 Nigeria
Home Matches		 Wins Draws Losses Last Defeat
20 8 9 3 10 Feb 73
Neutral Venue Matches Won by
 Ghana		 Draws Won by
 Nigeria		 Latest Result
13 6 4 3 11 October 2011
0-0 Draw

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

* Ghana was organized under the Gold Coast Football Federation from this time until its 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.

See also

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. "Nigeria/Ghana: Today in History!!! (CyberEagles)". 20 October 2006. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  6. "Nigeria Red Devils celebrate victory against Ghana, 1956. Holding the cup is captain Dan Anyiam". 18 July 2017. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  7. "History favours Ghana". 25 July 2001. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
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