International Football
TODAY IN HISTORY: NIGERIA DEBUT IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 60 years today since the Nigeria football team made its debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup qualifying series.
The Nigerian side, then simply known as the Red Devils were part of the six African sides that entered for the Chile ’62 World Cup.
The others were Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Republic, a short-lived union of Egypt and Syria.
The six African teams were divided into three groups of two teams and were to play on home and away basis. The three group winners were to go on a triangular league also on home and away basis.
The winner then advanced for a play-off for a final place with a European team. Nigeria parading a galaxy of stars like Godwin Achebe, Fabian Duru, Amusa Shittu, Dejo Fayemi, Asuqu Ekpe and Dan Anyiam were drawn against traditional rivals, Ghana.
So, on this date, 28 August 1960, in Accra, Nigeria lost their maiden World Cup qualifiers 4-1 to Ghana.
The Black Stars were truly at home, opening scoring in the 18th minute through Edward Acquah.
They doubled the lead in the 44th minute through Edward Boateng. Dejo Fayemi enters the record books as Nigeria’s first scorer in a World Cup qualifying match when he scored in the 50th minute to reduce the tally to 2-1.
Since Fayemi’s curtain raiser, there have been 176 other World Cup qualifying goals by Nigeria, taking the total haul to 177 as at the end of Russia 2018 qualifying series.
The milestone 100th goal was scored by Victor Agali in the 67th minute of Nigeria’s defeat of Sudan on 27 January 2001 in Port Harcourt.
In the Nigeria’s debut in the World Cup qualifying series, after Fayemi pulled a goal back, Ghana went ahead with two quick goals from Edward Aggrey Fynn in the 54th minute and Mohammed Salisu in the 55th minute brought the score line to 4-1.
When Nigeria beat Algeria 3-1 in one of the qualifying matches for Russia 2018, it was another milestone game as it was Nigeria’s 100th World Cup qualifying match.
As at the end of the qualifiers for Russia 2018, no African side has racked up as many qualifying victories as Nigeria, whose overall record of 58 wins from 104 games equates to a win rate of 55.76 per cent.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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