A highly anticipated Nigeria vs Argentina international friendly game was billed to take place on 26 March 2024 in Los Angeles, United States, but it was unfortunately called off due to difficulties in securing visas for the Nigerian delegates.
The news of the cancelled encounter did not go down well with Nigerian fans who have looked forward to watching the Super Eagles take on the world champions for the first time since 2018.
Fans eagerly wanted to see the next Nigerian to score against Argentina since Victor Moses did so in their last meeting, as scoring against the four-time World Cup winners is no mean feat for players who have achieved that record whilst donning the famous green-white-green of Nigeria.
Nigerians have enjoyed games against Argentina in the past. Both countries met for the first time on 25 June 1994 in a FIFA World Cup Group D clash that ended in a 2-1 victory for the South Americans with Samson Siasia scoring Nigeria's first goal against them in the eighth minute.
That encounter was their first ever meeting in all competitions and was marred with controversy because after the game, star player for Argentina Diego Armando Maradona was kicked out of the tournament for testing positive for ephedrine, a banned substance for footballers.
Nigeria last squared off against La Albiceleste during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, an encounter that still lives in the memory of Nigerian fans because of how the match panned out.
The Super Eagles showcased determination and hunger to throw out the South American giants until a late winner from Marcos Rojo sent Argentina through to the round of 16 with a 2-1 win against Nigeria. The encounter took place in Saint Petersburg.
Nigeria vs Argentina: How many times have they met?
Since Nigeria first clashed against Argentina in 1994, there have been a total of nine meetings between them.
In those nine previous encounters, Argentina have won six matches, drawn one, and lost two to the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Argentina won the first match between them and Nigeria in 1994. Five of their six victories were in the FIFA World Cup, with one win in an international friendly.
The only draw between them came in 1995 during the FIFA Confederation Cup. It was the only game that neither team scored since their first meeting.
The two matches that Nigeria won against Argentina were in international friendlies which ended 4-1 and 4-2 respectively.
In those nine clashes between them, a total of 28 goals were scored. But who are the top scorers in matches involving Nigeria vs Argentina?
Top goal scorers in Nigeria vs Argentina encounters
The first player to score in the Nigeria vs Argentina fixture was Claudio Canigga. He happens to be the first player to also bag a double in this fixture. Since then, so many other players have scored whenever both teams face-off.
These are the names of the top goal scorers in the nine matches between Nigeria and Argentina.
- Lionel Messi – 3 goals
- Claudio Canigga – 2 goals
- Ikechukwu Uche – 2 goals
- Ahmed Musa – 2 goals
- Marcos Rojo – 2 goals
- Alex Iwobi – 2 goals
- Samson Siasia – 1 goal
- Gabriel Batistuta – 1 goal
- Gabriel Heinze – 1 goal
- Mauro Boselli – 1 goal
- Victor Obinna – 1 goal
- Emmanuel Emenike – 1 goal
- Gonzalo Higuain – 1 goal
- Angel Di Maria – 1 goal
- Chinedu Obasi – 1 goal
- Ever Banega – 1 goal
- Sergio Kun Aguero – 1 goal
- Kelechi Iheanacho – 1 goal
- Brian Idowu – 1 goal
- Victor Moses – 1 goal
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
