The first time the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup was hosted by the United States of America in 1994 was also the first time Nigeria participated in this global football tournament. Led by the Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, Nigeria debuted against Bulgaria, pumelling them in a three-to-nil victory. The first goal of the tie was scored by the talisman, Rashidi Yekini, who celebrated in what would become one of the most iconic moments in Nigerian sporting history. He clutched the opposition’s goal net fervently, screaming his own name. “Rashidi Yekini!”
At the time, Nigeria was navigating one of the most turbulent periods in its history. Just ten days before that match, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, in whose honour June 12 is now observed as Democracy Day, had declared himself Nigeria’s rightful president following the annulment of the 1993 election. Two days after the Super Eagles’ victory, he was arrested by the military regime, triggering protests across the country. That was 32 years ago.
As the world returns to the USA for another World Cup tournament, Nigeria is still in the throes of a national upheaval, albeit in a different form — insecurity and rampant kidnappings. But unlike in the (American) summer of 1994, Nigeria will not be partaking in this tournament, after failing to qualify.
The FIFA Men’s World Cups began in 1930 in Uruguay. Ever since then, there have been 23 editions of the tournament, including the one underway across Canada, Mexico, and the USA. Of the 23 editions, Nigeria has participated in six (counting from her debut in 1994), with our furthest point being the Round of 16, a feat we managed in 1994, 1998 and 2014. At our 1994 debut, Nigeria, drawn in Group D, went up against Bulgaria, Argentina, and Greece. Of the three, Nigeria solidly routed both Bulgaria and Greece with three and two goals (to nil), respectively, and lost to the White and Sky Blue of Argentina.
In the fourth game of that edition, the Round of 16 Knockouts, they took on Italy. A neck-and-neck tie, Emmanuel Amunike had put Nigeria’s Super Eagles a goal ahead in the 25th minute. The match carried on under that scoreline, and a quarter-final spot was on the horizon for Nigeria. Italy, seemingly hard done by the fortitude of Nigeria’s men and by luck, in addition to being a goal down, were also a man down. In the 76th minute of the game, Italian forward Gianfranco Zola had violently fouled Nigeria’s Augustine Eguavoen and was shown the red card. Expectedly, the shouts of triumph from Nigeria grew even more strident; it all died in the 88th minute. Robberto Baggocio had put Italy back in the game and went on to score the winning goal after Italy was awarded a penalty during the first half of the extra time.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles, at the time, would go down in history as the nation’s golden generation. Swelling within the team’s ranks were iconic names like Stephen Keshi, the captain, Peter Rufai, the thrilling Jay-Jay Okocha, Daniel –the Bull– Amokachi, Finidi George, Emmanuel Amunike, and Rashidi Yekini, who went on to score Nigeria’s first World Cup goal and emerged the top scorer at the African Cup of Nations in that same year. On the other two occasions when we reached the Round of 16 again — in 1998 (France) and 2014 (Brazil) — we were knocked out by Denmark in a four – one defeat, and by France, in a two – nil victory.
Our 1998 World Cup campaign in France was no less memorable. The mettle of the Super Eagles, which was still star-studded, was tested in a cutthroat group that had Spain, Bulgaria, and Paraguay. In the clash against Spain in Nantes, Nigeria put on a memorable performance, clinching the win over Spain by three goals to two. A subsequent win over Bulgaria secured Nigeria’s place in the Round of 16, and though they would lose against Paraguay, they topped the group and took on the Danish side in the Round of 16.
Nigeria’s 2002 FIFA World Cup outing was the first time Nigeria was led to the World Cup by a Nigerian as the coach, Adegboye Onigbinde. In 1998, the team was led by a Serbian, Bora Milutinović. Adegboye Onigbinde had been appointed three months before the World Cup in March, during a controversial period within the Super Eagles camp. According to reports, after a third-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations that same year, some players had revolted over unpaid wages and bonuses, and the team was disbanded. The new coach had barely any time to put together a convincing squad. Nigeria would crash out of the competition in the group stages with nothing but a draw, two losses, and only one goal.
The iconic 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa added more pages to Nigeria’s tragic chapter at the World Cup. Nigeria recorded another group stage exit, finishing third in a group that had Argentina, Greece, and South Korea. Nigeria lost to Argentina and Greece and tied with South Korea. It was against South Korea that Yakubu Aiyegbeni produced his infamous open-goal miss in the 66th minute. Although he redeemed himself with a penalty three minutes later, the efforts ultimately fell short.
Nigeria’s 2014 campaign in Brazil opened a new chapter in history as the Super Eagles, under the leadership of the legendary Stephen Keshi, advanced from the group stage for the first time in 16 years. Ahmed Musa’s stride-for-stride (or better still, goal-for-goal) battle with Messi earned him songs of praise and lit up the tournament for Nigeria. All would come to nought at the Round of 16, when Nigeria crumbled under France’s firepower. In 2018, Nigeria returned to the familiar notes of grief as we suffered another group stage exit under Gernot Rohr.
Across the six times Nigeria participated, Nigeria registered 23 goals, the highest number of goals scored by any African nation in the history of the tournament, with Ahmed Musa as our all-time highest goalscorer, with four goals to his credit. He recorded two braces in the 2014 edition (Brazil) and in the 2018 edition (Russia).
As the tournament kicks off today, Nigeria, with our chequered World Cup story, will be watching from home. Perhaps many Nigerians will be forced to pitch tents with other African countries. A record-breaking 10 African nations will grace the world stage this year, marking the continent’s largest-ever World Cup contingent at the event. They are Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Ghana, Cape Verde, and DR Congo.
As the pall of Xenophobic tension hangs over South Africa at home, the nation will open the tournament against Mexico in what will be the historic first match of this World Cup edition. South Africa recorded its debut in the competition four years after Nigeria’s in 1998, with a match against France, and finished with an early group stage elimination. They went on to become the first-ever African nation to host the FIFA World Cup, and the first-ever host country to be eliminated at the group stage. When they hosted the competition, their —and the tournament’s— opening match was against Mexico, which produced the iconic Tshabalala goal. This time around, as Mexico hosts the competition and prepares to open the tournament, it will curiously be taking on South Africa again. Unfortunately, unlike in 2010 when Africans rooted for South Africa, Africans do not appear to be in support of South Africa this time around, following the resurgence of Xenophobia. Many will be hoping that their ignoble streak of group-stage exits at the World Cup continues.
Like Nigeria in 1994, Cape Verde will be making its own debut in this year’s World Cup. The DR Congo, will be returning to the competition for the first time since 1974 when it was still colonially known as Zaire, the first sub-Saharan African nation to qualify for the World Cup. Not only that, but they also went on to suffer the heaviest margin of defeat ever in the tournament’s history, losing nine goals to nil at the hands and mercy of Yugoslavia. This put the team in sour relations with the country’s dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, who threatened them should they lose heavily to Brazil in their final match. They managed to concede not more than three goals. Due to political instability, financial struggles, and a series of failures, they would not return to the tournament until this year.
In 1934, Egypt became the first African country to play at the World Cup. They qualified for the second-ever tournament that was held in Italy. Due to the style of the competition, which was a single-elimination knockout at the time, their only match in that tournament was against Hungary, which they lost by four goals to nil. It would take 36 years before another African nation — Morocco — made another appearance at the World Cup, in 1970.
In 1966, African nations united to boycott the FIFA World Cup and ultimately forced FIFA to change its policy around continental representation. In 1964, FIFA ruled that Africa, Asia, and Oceania would have to share a single qualification slot. This implied that an African team could win their continental tournament and still miss the World Cup if they lost a subsequent playoff against an Asian champion. Under the leadership of Ghanaian sports pioneer Ohene Djan, all 15 African nations unanimously withdrew from the 1966 tournament in England to protest this systemic disrespect. The total boycott crippled the qualifying rounds and forced FIFA to finally yield, granting Africa its very first guaranteed, permanent slot ahead of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Ghana and Senegal, in a unique colonial showdown, will be taking up their colonial masters. Ghana will face England in Group L, and Senegal will take on France in Group I. After Ghana’s debut in 2006, they were en route to becoming Africa’s first-ever semi-finalist, but their run was thwarted by Luiz Suarez’s infamous goal-line handball in the dying seconds of extra-time. Uruguay eventually saw them off in a penalty shootout. In the case of Senegal, they are one of four African nations to have reached a World Cup quarter-final. When they take on France on June 16 at the New York-New Jersey Stadium, it will be 24 years since they famously defeated France when they debuted in 2002.
As the World Cup returns, African nations will be looking forward to leaving their mark on the tournament, all the way to winning. As it stands, the furthest an African nation has ever reached is the semi-finals, a historic milestone achieved by Morocco at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Before Morocco’s historic fourth-place finish, only three African nations had ever managed to reach the quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010. With a record number of African nations in this tournament, African nations will have their eyes on the prize — isn’t this the goal after all? From the moment the very first kick is recorded today in the match between South Africa and Mexico, to when the last kick shall be recorded at the New York New Jersey Stadium on the 19th of July, the whole of Africa will be alive with zinging excitement.
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