The Super Eagles will carve a remarkable milestones when they take on the Fennecs of Algeria at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo on November 12 2016 in their Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying match – it will be Nigeria's 50th home match in their 100th match of the FIFA World Cup African qualifiers, .
Nigerian football statistician and an erudite journalist, Kunle Solaja, on Monday published on his Facebook wall, a 'mouth-watering' statistical facts of Nigeria's participation in the history of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers Africa Zone since its inception in 1960. ? The statistics revealed that Nigeria have so far played 99 matches since their first ever FIFA World Cup qualifying match against the Black Stars of Ghana in Accra on August 28 1960 – the match Nigeria lost 4-1.
Nigeria have also played 49 home matches since their first home match in the World Cup qualifiers on 10th September 1960, which was a 2-2 draw with Ghana’s Black Stars in Lagos.
The three time African champions have won 39, drawn seven, and lost three matches so far at home. Remarkably, one of the three home defeats was suffered in the hands of Algeria on 10th October 1981.
The other two home defeats suffered by Nigeria so far were against Ghana on 10th February 1973 and Tunisia on 12th November 1977 in Lagos where a first half own goal by defender Godwin Odiye ended Nigeria's dream of featuring at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.
Solaja writes Inter alia on Facebook: "FIFA World Cup matches, whether in the qualifying series or in the finals, are always rich in statistics. So it will be in Nigeria’s next match.
When the Super Eagles line up against the Algerians in Uyo on November 12, it is more than just a World Cup qualifying duel. It is a milestone for Nigeria as the match will be the country’s 100th FIFA World Cup qualifying duel since the maiden 4-1 loss to Ghana in Accra on August 28, 1960.
"Thus Nigeria will be the second African team to hit the 100th mark after Morocco whose total will be 107 after hosting Cote d’Ivoire on November 12. Also expected to play its 100th World Cup qualifying match on the same day is Tunisia whose team will be away to Libya on November 11.
But Nigeria has a better aggregate than both Morocco and Tunisia. Ahead of the Uyo match, no African side has racked up as many World Cup qualifying victories as Nigeria whose overall record of 55 wins from 99 games equates to a win rate of 55.5%…"
NIGERIA’S 99 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING MATCHES
1. Aug. 28, 1960, Accra: Ghana 4-1 Nigeria 2. Sept. 10, 1960, Lagos: Nigeria 2-2 Ghana 3. Dec. 7, 1968, Lagos: Nigeria 1-1 Cameroon 4. Dec. 22, 1968, Yaoundé: Cameroon 1-2 Nigeria 5. May 10, 1969, Ibadan: Nigeria 2-2 Ghana 6. May 18, 1969, Accra: Ghana 1-1 Nigeria* Nigeria advanced via toss of coin 7. Sep. 13, 1969, Ibadan: Nigeria 2-2 Sudan 8. Sep. 21, 1969, Casablanca: Morocco 2-1 Nigeria 9. Oct. 2, 1969, Khartoum: Sudan 3-3 Nigeria 10. Nov. 8, 1969, Ibadan: Nigeria 2-0 Morocco. * Morocco advanced, topping a 3-team league involving Nigeria and Sudan. 11. Aug. 5, 1972, Ibadan: Nigeria 2-1 Congo 12. Aug. 15 1972, Brazzaville: Congo 1-1 Nigeria 13. Feb. 10, 1973, Lagos: Nigeria 2-3 Ghana* match ended in riot. Match awarded 2-0 to Ghana 14. Feb. 25, 1973, Accra: Ghana 0-0 Nigeria 15. Oct. 16, 1976, Freetown: Sierra Leone 0-0 Nigeria 16. Oct. 30, 1976, Lagos: Nigeria 6-2 Sierra Leone 17. Jul. 10, 1977, Lagos: Nigeria 4-0 Cote d’Ivoire 18. Jul. 27, 1977, Bouake: Cote d’Ivoire 2-2 Nigeria 19. Sep. 25, 1977, Tunis: Tunisia 0-0 Nigeria 20. Oct. 8, 1977, Lagos: Nigeria 4-0 Egypt 21. Oct. 21, 1977, Cairo: Egypt 3-1 Nigeria 22. Nov. 12, 1977, Lagos: Nigeria 0-1 Tunisia 23. June 26, 1980, Tunis: Tunisia 2-0 Nigeria 24. Jul. 12, 1980, Lagos: Nigeria 2-0 Tunisia* Nigeria advanced via penalties 25. Dec. 6, 1980, Lagos: Nigeria 1-1 Tanzania 26. Dec. 20, 1980, Dar es Salaam: Tanzania 0-2 Nigeria 27. Apr. 12, 1981, Conakry: Guinea 1-1 Nigeria 28. Apr. 25, 1981, Lagos: Nigeria 1-0 Guinea 29. Oct. 10, 1981, Lagos: Nigeria 0-2 Algeria 30. Oct. 30, 1981, Constantine: Algeria 2-1 Nigeria 31. Oct. 20, 1984, Lagos: Nigeria 3-0 Liberia 32. Nov. 11, 1984, Monrovia: Liberia 0-1 Nigeria 33. Apr. 7, 1985, Nairobi: Kenya 0-3 Nigeria 34. Apr. 20, 1985, Lagos: Nigeria 3-1 Kenya 35. Jul. 6, 1985, Lagos: Nigeria 1-0 Tunisia 36. Jul. 20, 1985, Tunis: Tunisia 2-0 Nigeria 37. Jan. 7, 1989, Enugu: Nigeria 1-0 Gabon 38. Jan 22, 1989, Luanda: Angola 2-2 Nigeria 39. Jun. 10, 1989, Ibadan: Nigeria 2-0 Cameroon 40. Jun. 25, 1989, Libreville: Gabon 2-1 Nigeria 41. Aug. 12, 1989, Lagos: Nigeria 1-0 Angola 42. Aug. 27, 1989, Yaoundé: Cameroon 1-0 Nigeria 43. Oct. 10, 1992, Lagos: Nigeria 4-0 South Africa 44. Oct. 20, 1992, Pointe Noire: Congo 0-1 Nigeria 45. Jan. 16, 1993, J’burg: South Africa 0-0 Nigeria 46. Feb. 27, 1993, Enugu: Nigeria 2-0 Congo 47. May 2, 1993, Abidjan: Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 Nigeria 48. Jul. 13, 1993, Lagos: Nigeria 4-1 Algeria 49. Sep. 25, 1993, Lagos: Nigeria 4-1 Cote d’Ivoire 50. Oct. 8, 1993, Algiers: Algeria 1-1 Nigeria * Nigeria qualified for USA ‘94 51. Nov. 9, 1996, Lagos: Nigeria 2-0 Burkina Faso 52. Jan. 12, 1997, Nairobi: Kenya 1-1 Nigeria 53. Apr. 5, 1997, Lagos: Nigeria 2-1 Guinea 54. Apr. 27, 1997, Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso 1-2 Nigeria 55. Jun. 7, 1997, Lagos: Nigeria 3-0 Kenya * Nigeria qualified for France ’98 with one game to go 56. Aug. 17, 1997, Conakry: Guinea 1-0 Nigeria 57. Apr. 9, 2000, Asmara: Eritrea 0-0 Nigeria 58. Apr. 22, 2000, Lagos: Nigeria 4-0 Eritrea 59. Jun. 17, 2000, Lagos: Nigeria 2-0 Sierra Leone 60. Jul. 9, 2000, Monrovia: Liberia 2-1 Nigeria 61. Jan. 27, 2001, Port Harcourt: Nigeria 3-0 Sudan 62. Mar. 11, 2001, Accra: Ghana 0-0 Nigeria 63. Apr. 21, 2001, Freetown: Sierra Leone 1-0 Nigeria 64. May 5, 2001, Port Harcourt: Nigeria 2-0 Liberia 65. Jul. 1, 2001, Ombdurman: Sudan 0-4 Nigeria 66. Jul. 29, 2001, Port Harcourt: Nigeria 3-0 Ghana * Nigeria qualified for Korea/Japan 2002 67. Jun. 5, 2004, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 Rwanda 68. Jun. 20, 2004, Luanda: Angola 1-0 Nigeria 69. Jul. 3, 2004, Abuja: Nigeria 1-0 Algeria 70. Sep. 5. 2004, Harare: Zimbabwe 0-3 Nigeria 71. Oct. 10. 2004, Libreville: Gabon 1-1 Nigeria 72. Mar. 26, 2005, Port Harcourt: Nigeria 2-0 Gabon 73. Jun. 5, 2005, Kigali: Rwanda 1-1 Nigeria 74. Jun. 18, 2005 Kano: Nigeria 1-1 Angola 75. Sep. 4, 2005, Oran: Algeria 2-5 Nigeria 76. Oct. 8, 2005, Abuja: Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe 77. Jun. 1, 2008, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 South Africa 78. Jun. 7, 2008, Freetown: Sierra Leone 0-1 Nigeria 79. Jun. 14, 2008, Malabo: Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Nigeria 80. Jun. 21, 2008, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 Equatorial Guinea 81. Sep. 6, 2008, Port Elizabeth: South Africa 0-1 Nigeria 82. Oct. 11, 2008, Abuja: Nigeria 4-1 Sierra Leone 83. Mar. 29, 2009, Maputo: Mozambique 0-0 Nigeria 84. Jun. 7, 2009, Abuja: Nigeria 3-0 Kenya 85. Jun. 20, 2009, Rades: Tunisia 0-0 Nigeria 86. Sep. 6, 2009, Abuja: Nigeria 2-2 Tunisia 87. Oct. 11, 2009, Abuja: Nigeria 1-0 Mozambique 88. Nov. 14, 2009, Nairobi: Kenya 2-3 Nigeria * Nigeria qualify for South Africa 2010 89. Jun. 1, 2012, Calabar: Nigeria 1-0 Namibia 90. Jun. 9, 2012, Blantyre: Malawi 1-1 Nigeria 91. Mar. 23, 2013, Calabar: Nigeria 1-1 Kenya 92. Jun. 5, 2013, Nairobi: Kenya 0-1 Nigeria 93. Jun. 12, 2013, Windhoek: Namibia 1-1 Nigeria 94. Sep. 7, 2013, Calabar: Nigeria 2-0 Malawi 95. Oct. 13, 2013, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia 1-2 Nigeria 96. Nov. 16, 2013, Calabar: Nigeria 2-0 Ethiopia Nigeria * Nigeria qualify for Brazil 2014 97. Nov. 13, 2015, Lobamba: Swaziland 0-0 Nigeria 98. Nov. 17, 2015, Port Harcourt: Nigeria 2-0 Swaziland 99. Oct. 9, 2016, Ndola: Zambia 1-2 Nigeria 100. Nov. 12, 2016 Uyo: Nigeria ?-? Algeria"?