AFCON
South Africa’s Match is Nigeria’s 100th Afcon Qualifier
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
If the five annulled Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches involving Nigeria are excluded, the Saturday fixture with the Bafana Bafana will be Nigeria’s 100th qualifying match in the history of the competition, Sports Village Square can assert.
The figure could have been higher as the encounter with Chad on June 13, 2015 in Kaduna could have been the milestone 100th Africa Cup of Nations match involving Nigeria, but CAF technically annulled the match owing to later withdrawal of Chad from the competition.
The same principle is therefore applied to other matches which results were later annulled by CAF. These were the qualifying matches Nigeria played in the quest for 2000 Africa Cup of Nations that was originally slated for Zimbabwe.
Sports Village Square recalls that before the revocation of the hosting rights that were later jointly given to Nigeria and Ghana, the Super Eagles had played away matches with Burkina Faso and Senegal as well as a home game against Burundi in Abeokuta.
The results were cancelled just like the 1961 away qualifying match with Tunisia. The later match was awarded to Tunisia on account of Nigeria’s walkout for poor officiating. Score line at the time stood at 2-2 with Nigeria leading 4-3 on aggregate.
Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying Matches
1962, Africa Cup of Nations, Ethiopia
- April 8, 1961, Lagos: Nigeria 0-0 Ghana
- April 30, 1961, Accra: Ghana 2-2 Nigeria [Nigeria won on lots*]
- November 25, 1951, Lagos: Nigeria 2-1 Tunisia
- December 10, 1961, Tunis: Tunisia 2-2 Nigeria (Match annulled, awarded to Tunisia)
1963 Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana
- July 27, 1963, Lagos: Nigeria 2-2 Guinea
- October 6, 1963, Conakry: Guinea 1-0 Nigeria * Guinea disqualified, Nigeria qualified
1965 Africa Cup of Nations, Tunisia
Nigeria withdrew from prelims
1968 Africa Cup of Nations, Ethiopia
- March 12, 1967, Lagos: Nigeria 0-0 Cote d’Ivoire
- April 2, 1967, Lomé: Togo 1-0 Nigeria
- April 15, 1967, Lagos: Nigeria 4-2 Togo
- May 7, 1967, Abidjan: Cote d’Ivoire 2-0 Nigeria
1970 Africa Cup of Nations, Sudan
Niger w/o Nigeria
1972 Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon
- November 8, 1970, Ibadan: Nigeria 0-0 Congo
- November, 22, 1970, Brazzaville: Congo 2-1 Nigeria
1974 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt
- September 16, 1973, Khartoum: Sudan 1-1 Nigeria
- September 30, 1973, Lagos: Nigeria 2-1 Sudan
- October 28, 1973, Lusaka: Zambia 5-1 Nigeria
- November 11, 1973, Lagos: Nigeria 3-2 Zambia [Zambia qualify]
1976 Africa Cup of Nations, Ethiopia
- October 26, 1975, Brazzaville: Congo 0-1 Nigeria
- November 9, 1975, Lagos: Nigeria 2-1 Congo [Nigeria qualify]
1978 Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana
- June 12, 1977, Dakar: Senegal 3-1 Nigeria
- June 25, 1977, Lagos: Nigeria 3-0 Senegal [Nigeria qualify]
1980 Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria
*Automatic as hosts
- Africa Cup of Nations, Libya
*Automatic as defending champions
1984 Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire
- April 9, 1983, Lagos: Nigeria 2-0 Angola
- April 24, 1983, Luanda: Angola 1-0 Nigeria
- August 14, 1983, Benin: Nigeria 0-0 Morocco
- August 28, 1983, Rabat: Morocco 0-0 Nigeria [Nigeria qualify 4-3 on pen.]
1986 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt
- August 10, 1985, Lagos: Nigeria 0-0 Zambia
- August 18, 1985, Lusaka: Zambia 1-0 Nigeria [Zambia qualify]
1988 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco
- March 28, 1987, Ibadan: Nigeria 2-0 Togo
- April 2, 1987, Lomé: Togo 1-1 Nigeria
- July 4, 1987, Ibadan: Nigeria 3-0 Sierra Leone
- July 18, 1987, Freetown: Sierra Leone 2-0 Nigeria [Nigeria qualify]
1990 Africa Cup of Nations, Algeria
- April 9, 1989, Conakry: Guinea 1-1 Nigeria
- April 22, 1989, Ibadan: Nigeria 3-0 Guinea
- July 15, 1989, Ibadan: Nigeria 3-0 Zimbabwe
- July 29, 1989, Harare: Zimbabwe 1-1 Nigeria [Nigeria qualify]
1992 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal
- August 19, 1990, Lagos: Nigeria 3-0 Togo
- September 1, 1990, Accra: Ghana 1-0 Nigeria
- September 30, 1990, Cotonou: Benin 0-1 Nigeria
- January 13, 1991, Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso 1-1 Nigeria
- January 27, 1991, Lomé: Togo 0-0 Nigeria
- April 13, 1991, Lagos: Nigeria 0-0 Ghana
- April 27, 1991, Lagos: Nigeria 3-0 Benin
- July 27, 1991, Lagos: Nigeria 7-1 Burkina Faso
1994 Africa Cup of Nations, Tunisia
- August 16, 1992, Khartoum: Sudan 0-0 Nigeria
- August 29, 1992, Lagos: Nigeria 2-0 Uganda
- April 11, 1993, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia 1-0 Nigeria
- April 24, 1993, Lagos: Nigeria 4-0 Sudan
- July 17, 1993, Kampala: Uganda 0-0 Nigeria
- July 24, 1993, Lagos: Nigeria 6-0 Ethiopia
- October 4, 1998, Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso 0-0 Nigeria [annulled]
- January 23, 1999, Abeokuta: Nigeria 2-0 Burundi [annulled]
- February 28, 1999, Dakar Senegal 1-1 Nigeria [annulled)
- Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa
*Automatic as defending champions, but withdrew
1998 Africa Cup of Nations, Burkina Faso
*Banned
2002 Africa Cup of Nations, Mali
- September 2, 2000, Lagos: Nigeria 4-0 Namibia
- October 7, 2000 Antananarivo: Madagascar 0-0 Nigeria
- January 13, 2001, Lagos: Nigeria 1-0 Zambia
- March 24, 2001, Chingola: Zambia 1-1 Nigeria
- June 2, 2001, Benin: Nigeria 1-0 Madagascar
- June 16, 2001, Windhoek: Namibia 0-2 Nigeria
2004 Africa Cup of Nations, Tunisia
- September 8, 2002, Luanda: Angola 0-0 Nigeria
- March 29, 2003, Blantyre: Malawi 0-1 Nigeria
- June 7, 2003, Abuja: Nigeria 4-1 Malawi
- June 21, 2003 Benin: Nigeria 2-2 Angola
2006 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt
- June 5, 2004, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 Rwanda
- June 20, 2004, Luanda: Angola 1-0 Nigeria
- July 3, 2004, Abuja: Nigeria 1-0 Algeria
- September 5, 2004, Harare: Zimbabwe 0-3 Nigeria
- October 9, 2004 Libreville: Gabon 1-1 Nigeria
- March 26, 2005, Port Harcourt: Nigeria 2-0 Gabon
- June 5, 2005, Kigali: Rwanda 1-1 Nigeria
- June 18, 2005 Kano: Nigeria 1-1 Angola
- September 4, 2005, Oran: Algeria 2-5 Nigeria
- October 8, 2005, Lagos: Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana
- September 6, 2006, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 Niger
- October 8, 2006, Maseru: Lesotho 0-1 Nigeria
- March 24, 2007, Abeokuta: Nigeria 1-0 Uganda
- June 2, 2007, Kampala: Uganda 2-1 Nigeria
- June 17, 2007, Niamey: Niger 1-3 Nigeria
- September 8, 2007, Warri: Nigeria 2-0 Lesotho
2010 Africa Cup of Nations, Angola
- June 1, 2008, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 South Africa
- June 7, 2008, Freetown: Sierra Leone 0-1 Nigeria
- June 15, 2008, Malabo: Equat. Guinea 0-1 Nigeria
- June 21, 2008, Abuja: Nigeria 2-0 Equat. Guinea
- September 6, 2008, Port Elizabeth: South Africa 0-1 Nigeria
- October 11, 2008, Abuja: Nigeria 4-1 Sierra Leone
2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea/Gabon
- September 5, 2010, Calabar: Nigeria 2–0 Madagascar
- October 10, 2010, Conakry: Guinea 1–0 Nigeria
- March 27, 2011, Abuja: Nigeria 4–0 Ethiopia
- June 5, 2011, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia 2–2 Nigeria
- September 4, 2011, Antananarivo: Madagascar 0–2 Nigeria
- October 8, 2011, Abuja: Nigeria 2–2 Guinea
2013 Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa
- February 29, 2012, Kigali: Rwanda 0-0 Nigeria
- June 16, 2012, Calabar: Nigeria 2-0 Rwanda
- September 8, 2012. Monrovia: Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
- October 13, 2012, Calabar: Nigeria 6-1 Liberia
2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon
- September 6, 2014, Calabar: Nigeria 2-3 Congo-Brazzaville
- September 10, 2014, Cape Town: South Africa 0-0 Nigeria
- October 11, 2014, Khartoum: Sudan 1-0 Nigeria
- October 15, 2014, Abuja: Nigeria 3-1 Sudan
- November 15, 2014. Pointe-Noire: Congo-Brazzaville 0-2 Nigeria
- November 19, 2014, Uyo: Nigeria 2-2 South Africa
2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea
- June 13, 2015, Kaduna: Nigeria 2-0 Chad (annulled)
- September 5, 2015, Dar es Salaam: Tanzania 0-0 Nigeria
- March 25, 2016, Kaduna: Nigeria 1-1 Egypt
- March 29, 2016, Alexandria: Egypt 1-0 Nigeria
- September 3, 2016, Uyo: Nigeria 1-0 Tanzania
2017 Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon
- June 10, 2017, Uyo: Nigeria vs South Africa
AFCON
Nigerians, other nationals can apply, as CAF and Morocco Launch Volunteer Programme for AFCON 2025
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in Morocco have launched the official Volunteer Programme for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025, billed to run from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026.
According to CAF, more than 4,000 volunteers will be recruited to play a central role in ensuring the success of Africa’s most prestigious football tournament, which will be staged across six cities and nine stadiums in Morocco.
Applications are now open at volunteers.cafonline.com and will close on 8 October 2025. The opportunity is open to anyone above the age of 18.
Volunteers will be deployed across multiple functional areas, including media operations, spectator services, accreditation, hospitality, and fan engagement. Selected individuals will receive professional training ahead of the competition and work behind the scenes to deliver a memorable AFCON.
CAF stated that the programme is designed not only to support tournament operations but also to create an alumni network of skilled Africans who can contribute to future sporting events across the continent. Successful applicants will benefit from:
- Training and skill development.
- Official uniforms and certificates of participation.
- Networking opportunities with peers and professionals.
- The chance to contribute to Africa’s football legacy.
Volunteer registration opened on 17 September 2025. Selection and training will take place in October and November, with operations commencing in mid-December through to the tournament’s conclusion on 18 January 2026.
CAF described the initiative as an “exciting opportunity” for Africans to contribute to the growth of the continent’s flagship sporting event, which is expected to draw millions of visitors to Morocco.
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AFCON
CAF Security Chief, Nigeria’s Emeruwa, Leads Inspection of Tangier Stadium Ahead of Major Tournaments
Nigeria’s Dr. Christian Emeruwa, President of the Security and Safety Division of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), on Thursday, September 18, led an inspection visit to the Grand Stade de Tangier as preparations intensify for upcoming continental and global football events.
Emeruwa, who heads CAF’s continental security architecture, was joined by CAF Secretary General Véron Mosengo-Omba, senior Moroccan officials, and executives of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF).
The delegation also included managers of operational companies at the Grand Stade and SONARGES executives.
According to Le 360, the Nigerian official expressed satisfaction with the stadium’s facilities after touring key operational areas, including the main control room with its giant surveillance screen, as well as spectator, player, and VIP access zones.
The inspection was bolstered by the presence of Morocco’s top security and administrative officers—the regional commander of the Royal Gendarmerie, officials of the Auxiliary Forces and Civil Protection, the Wali of Security, the governor in charge of Internal Affairs, and representatives of the National Agency for Public Equipment (ANEP).
A technical meeting followed the tour, where engineers presented recent safety and security upgrades. Among the highlights was the planned installation of a FIFA-standard tarpaulin roof to enhance the venue’s compliance with global hosting requirements.
For Nigeria, the spotlight on Dr. Emeruwa underscores the country’s growing influence in African football administration, particularly in the critical areas of safety and security management for CAF competitions.
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Morocco has received 723 high-end buses from Chinese manufacturer Yutong as part of preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which kicks off on December 21.
Yutong said on social media that the fleet “has officially rolled off the production line” and will provide “comprehensive transport services and reliable operational support” during the tournament.
An official handover ceremony was held on Friday at the company’s facility in Zhengzhou, Henan province, attended by Moroccan representatives and Yutong executives.
The buses were designed to cope with Morocco’s terrain and climate, including steep slopes, heat and sandstorms. They feature an independent front axle suspension to navigate narrow city streets and Yutong’s in-house “Blue Core System” for fuel efficiency.
The delivery is the largest single order of Chinese buses in Africa. Yutong will station more than 100 technicians in Morocco to provide training, maintenance and round-the-clock support during AFCON.
The deal is part of Morocco’s broader transport strategy, which includes plans to purchase 7,000 new buses by 2030—half of them electric—as the country prepares to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
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