Nigeria and Ghana will square off for one of the tickets to the World Cup in Qatar.
Old rivalries will come to life again as Nigeria tries to maintain its record of not losing a two-legged competitive tie to Ghana.
With the Africa Cup of Nations in its final leg, there is only one thing left on the minds of ten teams in Africa – The final round of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Africa has five slots for the football showpiece in Qatar, and ten teams are vying for those slots. Mali, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, DR Congo, Morocco, Ghana and Nigeria are all looking to fly their flags in Qatar.
While some feisty ties are on the cards, like Egypt vs Senegal and Algeria vs Morocco, the Ghana/Nigeria tie has a deep-seated history.
Nigeria and Ghana are serious arch-rivals, with both having a less than stellar outing at the Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria won three matches in the group stage before crashing out in the round-of-16 at the hands of Tunisia, while Ghana did not win any game and failed to make it beyond the group stage.
The World Cup qualifier represents the only opportunity for the teams to write their names in gold this year. The venues for the two-legged clash has been revealed.
World Cup qualifiers venues revealed
During the second round of the World Cup qualifiers, the Super Eagles played all their matches at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. Nigeria lost a game to the Central African Republic and struggled against Cape Verde in Teslim Balogun Stadium. Reports suggest that the tie against Ghana will hold in Abuja.
The Super Eagles will be playing at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, formerly known as the National Stadium, for the first time since 2014.
The Super Eagles are no strangers to the Moshood Abiola Stadium, with the 2010 World Cup qualifiers played at the stadium.
Accra play host for the first leg, with the Accra Sports Stadium hosting the match. CAF had earlier denied a request by Ghana to move the game to Baba Yara.
World Cup playoffs fixtures
The World Cup qualifiers had ten groups, with only the group leaders qualifying for the second round of the CAF qualifying section. Nigeria and Ghana did their bit by topping their group and joining eight other Group winners into the final phase for a two-legged playoff. The playoffs will determine the five representatives to fly Africa’s flag in Qatar.
The playoff draws took place last month during the Africa Cup of Nations, and the Super Eagles of Nigeria drew the Black Stars of Ghana. Other matches in the playoffs are Senegal/Egypt, Cameroon/Algeria, Mali/Tunisia and DR Congo/Morocco.
Ghana hosts Nigeria in the first leg in March. A few days later, they will be guests of the Super Eagles.
The rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria comes to life again in a high stakes two-legged affair.
The rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria has gone beyond the pitch. Both countries are fighting for supremacy in almost every sphere of life. Music, food, fashion and movies have been the subject of debate. The latest arena is football, with the opportunity for both teams to quash the argument once and for all.
The date for the two games is between March 23-30, and the winner picks up one of the five tickets to Qatar.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
