Fans and followers of African football are excited about the Nigeria vs Angola 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter-final encounter in the Ivory Coast.
Since the beginning of the tournament, excitement and anticipation has been building towards the crucial rounds as teams battle to knock each other out with the AFCON title up for grabs.
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We have already seen the shocking results, great goals, unbelievable goalkeeper saves, and huge upsets that have characterized this edition of Africa's biggest football fiesta.
The Nigeria Super Eagles blockbuster clash with the Black Sable Antelopes of Angola will be one of eight exciting matchups fans will be seated to witness in the next couple of days as the quarter-final skirmishes promises much more upsets with no pushovers left in African football.
This clash for Nigeria will be one to get one back over the Black Sable Antelopes who in 2005 prevented the Super Eagles from qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Led then by coach Oliveira Gonçalves, Angola pulled off one of Africa's biggest World Cup qualifying upsets to appear in their first and only World's biggest football event instead of Nigeria.
But before this clash comes live to our TV screens, GOALBALL delves into both teams head-to-head standings and quarter-final records so far in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria vs Angola head-to-head records
Nigeria and Angola have traded tackles on ten occasions in the past. Three wins have gone the way of the Super Eagles, two wins for Angola, while five matches ended in stalemates.
Four of the ten previous Nigeria vs Angola skirmishes occurred in the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers, with one win apiece for both teams, while spoils were shared twice.
Below is a rundown of the ten matches!
- 04/04/1981 – Nigeria 0-0 Angola (International Friendly)
- 10/04/1983 – Nigeria 2-0 Angola (Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers)
- 24/04/1983 – Angola 1-0 Nigeria (Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers)
- 22/01/1989 – Angola 2-2 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup)
- 12/07/1989 – Nigeria 1-0 Angola (FIFA World Cup)
- 08/09/2002 – Angola 0-0 Nigeria (Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers)
- 21/06/2003 – Nigeria 2-2 Angola (Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers)
- 20/06/2004 – Angola 1-0 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup)
- 18/06/2005 – Nigeria 1-1 Angola (FIFA World Cup)
- 28/01/2018 – Nigeria 2-1 Angola (African Nations Championship)
Nigeria vs Angola AFCON quarter-finals record
Nigeria have been a force to reckon with in African football since the inception of the Africa Cup of Nations. The West African nation have made 20 appearances and won three AFCON titles and have been ever present in the knockout phase of this competition many times.
The same cannot be said of Angola who are yet to get their maiden AFCON trophy after eight appearances in the biennial tournament so far.
Nigeria and Angola will be squaring off against each other for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations and it will be happening at the quarter-final stage.
Nigeria AFCON quarter-finals record
This will be the 17th time Nigeria's senior national football team appears in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria's first was in 1976 when it was hosted in Ethiopia; Morocco were the eventual winners, while Nigeria finished in third place.
Meanwhile, the last time the Super Eagles got to this stage was in 2019 when they battled South Africa. The match ended in a 2-1 victory for Nigeria with Samuel Chukwueze and William Troost-Ekong scoring on the day, while Bongani Zungu scored for Bafana Bafana.
Nigeria went on to finish in third place with Algeria taking home the AFCON trophy.
And this time, Jose Peseiro's troops will be up for the challenge posed by the Black Sable Antelopes who stand in their way for a place in the AFCON semi-finals.
Angola AFCON quarter-finals record
The Black Sable Antelopes have not appeared at this stage of the competition many times. As a matter of fact, this will be just their third time in the quarter-finals, but when was their first and second appearance at this stage?
Angola made their first ever appearance at the AFCON quarter-finals in 2008 when it was hosted in Ghana. Led by coach Oliveira Gonçalves, the Angolan team lost 2-1 to Egypt in the quarter-finals on 4 February 2008. The Pharaohs would go on to win the title.
The Black Sable Antelopes will again march on to their second successive AFCON last eight in 2010 when they became hosts of the tournament.
However, their home advantage could not steer them over this stage as they fell 0-1 to Ghana from a 15th minute strike from Asamoah Gyan on 24 January 2010. Egypt also won this edition of the tournament.
When and where will Nigeria play Angola?
The quarter-final fixture between Nigeria and Angola will come up on 2 February 2024. The clash will take place at Stade Felix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
Nigeria progressed into this stage after beating Cameroon 2-0 in the Round of 16 from an Ademola Lookman double.
On the other hand, Angola qualified for the quarter-finals after recording an emphatic 3-0 victory over the Brave Warriors of Namibia with Gelson Dala scoring twice and a third goal coming in from Mabululu.
It will be fascinating to see which of these teams comes out on top next Friday!
This article was most recently revised and updated 9 months ago