When speaking about the most popular sports in the world, football inevitably comes up. And why not? With over 3 billion fans around the globe and some of the most famous athletes and clubs, football is the undisputed king of the sports world.
In Nigeria, it isn’t much different. Football is the most popular sport in the entire continent, and it enjoys huge popularity in Nigeria. Throughout the country’s history, they have produced some popular football players and successful clubs, and have seen quite a bit of success in international football.
In this article, we are going to look through the country’s past successes and talk about the high-points of the Nigerian national football team.
Their 1994 Season
In 1994, the Nigerian team was soaring high. Two years prior to 1994, the team succeeded in landing the third spot in the African Cup of Nations. In 1994, however, they came back with a vengeance, and played some of the best games in their entire history, winning the African Cup of Nations tournament for the second, but not final time.
They did not stop here. The team went all the way to the World Cup, football’s most prestigious and beloved event, pulling in huge crowds of punters at betting websites like sporty bet. During their stint at the World Cup, Nigeria came out on top in their bracket (which included Argentina, Bulgaria, and Greece). It was in 1994 that the FIFA organization ranked Nigeria at the number 5 spot, which is their highest ranking to this day.
Their 2013 Season
The last Africa Cup of Nations that the Nigerian national team won came in 2013. Prior to their massive success, the team had quite a few top-tier showings. They managed to reach the semi-finals on several occasions, however, ended up losing to Ghana in a particularly memorable match in 2010.
However, all of this served to pour proverbial fuel on the fire, which lead to the Nigerian team lighting up the matches during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. During this year, they won their third and as-of-now final title in the Cup, proving that they still had what it takes to compete in the big leagues.
During this run, the Nigerian team saw an undefeated streak, eventually defeating Burkina Faso in the finals and acquiring the Cup trophy.
Nigeria in 2022
Since 2013, Nigeria has not managed to claim the Africa Cup of Nations trophy. However, the team manage to qualify for the World Cup in both 2014 and 2018. In 2014, the Nigerian team scored their first win in 16 years. On top of that, it was during that same year that the Nigerians gave France a run for their money, though the match still ended in favor of the French.
In 2018, Nigeria managed to qualify for the World Cup again. The team was grouped with Zambia, Algeria, and Cameroon, in what was nicknamed the “Group of Death”. The Super Eagles managed to defeat all of their opponents, and progress beyond their group. Sadly, Argentina defeated the team and kicked them out of the competition.
In 2022, the latest iteration of the World Cup is being held in Qatar. Sadly, the Nigerian team did not manage to qualify for the cup. They tied with Ghana twice, however, the Ghanaian team managed to win due to the away goals rule.
The Future of Nigeria
The Nigerian team, or the Super Eagles, have had a mixed bag of showings throughout their history. In spite of this, they have shown that they have what it takes to compete with the big boys and have challenged and stood up to some of the greatest teams in football today. With this in mind, we can surely say that the future for the Super Eagles is certainly going to be a bright one.
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