AFCON
SIXTY DIAMOND MOMENTS OF NIGERIAN SPORTS HIGHLIGHT THE 60TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY!
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Lead writer of the Sports Village Square takes a peep down memory lane since Nigeria’s independence 60 years ago. His findings are encapsulated in 60 paragraphs
- November 30, 1960 – Nigeria’s boxer, Dick Tiger won the Middleweight Championship of the British Empire by beating Canada’s Wilf Greaves by knock out in the ninth round.
2. October 23, 1962 – Dick Tiger of Nigeria beat America’s Gene Fullmer in San Francisco to become the WBA champion
3. November 9, 1962 – Dick Tiger was recognized as World Middleweight Champion by the New York State Athletic Commission, the European Boxing Union and the British Boxing Board of Control.
4. August 10, 1963 – Dick Tiger became the WBC Middleweight champion and retained his WBA belt after beating Gene Fullman by knockout in the seventh round at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan.
5. October 10, 1964 – Nojim Maiyegun won Nigeria’s first ever medal at the Olympics when the light middleweight boxer shared the bronze medal with Józef Grzesiak of Poland.
6. October 21, 1965 – Dick Tiger regained his WBC and WBA belts which he had lost on December 7, 1963 to Joey Giardello at Atlantic City, New Jersey. He beat Giardello in New York to regain his crowns.
7. February 13, 1966 – For the first time, a Nigeria team wins a game in Ghana as the Sam Garba Okoye-inspired Nigerian Academicals which included Ismaila Mabo, Peter Anieke, and Tony Igwe, win 1-0 and followed up with a 2-1 win in the return leg in Lagos.
8. May 4, 1968 – Even though the Green Eagles lost 1-0 to Ethiopia, they pick the ticket to feature at the Mexico ’68 Olympics. The first time a Nigeria team will feature in a global tournament.
9. August 26, 1972 – Isaac Ikhouria won a bronze medal in the boxing event of the Munich Olympic Games.
10. January 18, 1973 – Nigeria’s first continental honours, as the Green Eagles win the gold medal of the football event of the 2nd All Africa Games.
11. March 14, 1976 – Nigeria’s return to the African Nations Cup finals after 13 years absence is marked with an impressive third place position after beating Egypt 3-2. The highlight of the match was the spectacular winning goal scored by Muda.
12. April 18, 1976 – Nigeria pick the ticket for the Montreal Olympics after eliminating the current African champions, Morocco, 3-2 on aggregate. The Nigerian side however pulled out of the Olympics along with the other African countries.
13. December 12, 1976 – Shooting Stars become the first Nigerian club side to win a continental title after a 4-2 aggregate win over Roger Milla inspired- Cameroon’s Tonerre Kalara in the African Winners Cup competition.
14. December 5, 1977 – Rangers win the African Winners Cup after beating Cameroon’s Canon Yaoundé 5-2 on aggregate.
15. March 22, 1980 – In front of enthusiastic crowd, including President Shehu Shagari, Nigeria win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.
16. April 6, 1983 – For the first time, Nigeria win the African Youth Championship (Tessema Cup after beating Cote d’Ivoire 4-3 on aggregate) and qualify for the World Youth Championship. It is the first time, Nigeria are in a FIFA event.
17. June 4, 1983 – Nigeria unexpectedly beat former champions, USSR, 1-0, in one of the opening matches of the 1983 World Youth Championship (now Under 20 World Cup). It is a sign of good things to come. It was the first time a Nigerian football team won a match organized by FIFA at global level.
18. July 28, 1984 – The Nigerian 4 x 400 team of Innocent Egbunike, Sunday Uti, Rotimi Peters and Moses Ugbusien won the bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympics.
19. July 28, 1984 – Peter Konyengwachie won the silver medal in the featherweight category of boxing at the Los Angeles Olympics.
20. August 11, 1985 – Nigeria beat Germany 2-0 to win the inaugural FIFA Under 16 Tournament in China. It is the first time a team outside Europe and South Africa will win a major global event.
Nigeria’s captain, Nduka Ugbade receives the cup from FIFA president, Joao Havelange (centre) after winning the inaugural U16 tournament.
21. February 16, 1989 – When Christopher Ohenhen fired from a 15 metre spot kick in the match against hosts, Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the World Youth Championship (now U20 World Cup), it was not just the winning goal of the 2-1 score line, it was a milestone, the 500th since the competition began in 1977.
22. December 8, 1990 – BCC Lions became the third Nigerian club side to win the African Winners Cup as they beat Tunisia’s Club Africaine.
23. July 25, 1992 – Richard Igbineghu won a silver medal in the Super Heavyweight category of boxing at the Barcelona Olympics. Also, David Izonritei won silver medal in heavy weight category after losing to Cuba’s Felix Savon in the final.
24. July 25, 1992 – The Nigerian quartet of Osmond Ezenwa, Oluyemi Kayode, Olapade Adeniken and Davidson Ezinwa won the silver medal in 4x100m Men at the Barcelona Olympics.
25. July 25, 1992 – The Nigerian quartet of Mary Onyali, Faith Idehen, Christy Opara-Thompson and Beatrice Utondu won the bronze medal in 4x100m Women at the Barcelona Olympics.
26. November 28, 1992 – Shooting Stars win the inaugural CAF Cup after beating Uganda’s Nakivibu Vila 3-0 on aggregate at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan.
27. September 4, 1993 – Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets beat Ghana, 2-1 in the final to win the FIFA Under -17 World Cup in Japan.
28. October 8, 1993 – For the first time since debut entry in 1959, Nigeria qualify for the FIFA World Cup final after a 1-1 draw with Algeria in Algiers.
29. April 10, 1994 – Nigeria are African champions again, after beating Zambia 2-1 in the final match in Tunis.
30. June 21, 1994 – Nigeria make a good debut in the World Cup, beating Bulgaria 3-0.
31. December 4, 1994 – Bendel Insurance win the CAF Cup for Nigeria.
32 July 29, 1996 – Falilat Ogunkoya became Nigeria’s first individual woman Olympic medallist when she won bronze medal in 400 metres at the Atlanta Olympics
33. August 2, 1996 – Chioma Ajunwa produced an amazing first round leap of 7.12m to become Nigeria’s first Olympic medallist.
- 34. August 3, 1996 – The Nigerian quartet of Falilat Ogunkoya, Fatima Yusuf, Christy Opara and Bisi Afolabi won the silver medal in 4x400m Women at the Atlanta Olympics.
- 35. August 3, 1996 – Nigeria win the gold medal of the football event of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics. It is the first time a team outside Europe will do that in 68 years. Nigeria also put an end to Europe’s successive victory. Since, no European team has won.
- 36. August 4, 1996 – Duncan Dokiwari wins a bronze medal in the super heavyweight category of boxing at the Atlanta Olympics.
- 37. October 31, 1998 – Nigeria win the inaugural African Women Championship when Super Falcons beat Ghana 2-0 in the final match played at Abeokuta.
38. September 27, 2000 – Glory Alozie won the silver medal for Nigeria in women’s 100 hurdles at the Sydney Olympics.
39. September 30, 2000 – Nigeria won the silver medal in the men’s 4×400 relay at the Sydney Olympics. Years later, the quartet was upgraded to gold medalists after the disqualification of the American team.
40. September 30, 2000 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×400 relay at the Sydney Olympics.
41. January 27, 2001 – When Victor Agali scored in the 67th minute to put scores at 2-0 in an eventual 3-0 defeat of Sudan in Port Harcourt, it was Nigeria’s 100th goal in the qualifying series of the World Cup. Nigeria thus became the first African side to hit a century of World Cup qualifying goals.
42. December 12, 2003 Nigeria’s Enyimba won CAF Champions League. It is the first time a Nigerian side will do so since the continent’s premier club competition began in 1964. Enyimba went ahead to win the Super Cup for the first time for Nigeria.
43. January 31, 2004 – When Super Eagles’ skipper scored from the penalty spot against South Africa at the Africa Cup of Nations, it brought score line to 2-0 in an eventual 4-0 triumph. The goal is officially the 1,000th in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations.
44. August 27, 2004 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the men’s 4 x 400 relay at the Athens Olympics.
45. August 28, 2004 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the men’s 4×100 relay at the Athens Olympics.
46. December 12, 2004 – Enyimba became the first side to win the Champions’ League back-to-back and the first time a team successfully defend the African title in 36 years.
47. September 9, 2007 – Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets beat Spain, 3-0 (pens) in the final to win the FIFA Under -17 World Cup in Korea. It was a record setting third win.
48. March 8, 2008 – Samuel Peters beat Oleg Maskaev in Cancun, Mexico to become the WBC champion.
49. August 21, 2008 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×100 relay at the Beijing Olympics.
50. August 21, 2008 – Chika Chukwumerije won a bronze for Nigeria in the men’s heavyweight category of taekwondo at the Beijing Olympics.
61. August 22, 2008 – Blessing Okagbare won a bronze medal for Nigeria in women’s Long jump at the Beijing Olympics.
52. August 23, 2008 – Nigeria win the silver medal in the men’s football event of Beijing Olympics.
53. October 1, 2009 – On the occasion of Nigeria’s 49th Independence Day, Daniel Adejo scored the last of a 5-0 defeat of Tahiti at the Cairo International Stadium to pull Nigeria through to the next round of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The goal was the 1,800th of the competition.
54. August 1, 2010 – Nigeria’s Falconets emerged the runners-up in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Germany after losing the final match 2-0 to the hosts, Germany. It was the best performance by an African side at the tournament.
55. February 3, 2013– Nigeria’s Super Eagles fielding largely home-grown players, beat Burkina Faso 1-0 to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time.
56. November 3, 2013– When Golden Eaglet’s Chidera Ezeh scored the third of the 3-0 defeat of Sweden at the U-17 World Cup in UAE, it turned a landmark goal, the 1,700th since the competition began in 1985.
57. August 30, 2015 – Nigeria’s men basketball team, D’Tigers won the Afrobasket for the first time, beating Angola 74-65. Nigeria’s Chamberlain Oguchi also emerged as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
58. August 20, 2016 – By beating Honduras 3-2 in the third place match of the football event of the Rio 2016 Olympics, Nigeria became the first football team in the world to win gold, silver and bronze medals of the Olympic football event having won gold in 1996 and silver in 2008.
59. October 7, 2017 – When Nigeria beat Zambia 1-0 in Uyo to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Super Eagles extended their unbeaten run in the qualifying series to 34 matches. It is the longest unbeaten streak in Africa, and the second in the world after the 59 achieved by Spain. Nigeria’s feat is even more remarkable considering that it is four matches ahead that of Germany, the 2014 World Cup winners.
60. April 18, 2020 – Former Nigeria badminton player, Obiageli Solaja became the first Nigerian to win the African Women in Badminton Award. The award is conferred by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA).
South Sudan delivered a dominant display to thrash Djibouti 4-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 Preliminary Round first-leg encounter in Juba on Thursday, taking a firm grip on the tie ahead of the return leg.
Keer Majak was the standout performer, scoring once and providing two assists in a commanding all-round display that underlined South Sudan’s superiority and attacking intent.
The hosts set the tone early, controlling possession and pressing aggressively in search of an opener. Their breakthrough came in the 31st minute when Justin Bangasi teed up Teng Kuol, who finished confidently to give South Sudan a deserved lead.
Despite being under sustained pressure, Djibouti managed to limit further damage before the interval, trailing 1-0 at halftime and still harbouring slim hopes of a comeback.
However, any resistance quickly faded after the restart as South Sudan raised the tempo. Bangasi doubled the advantage in the 49th minute, finishing off a well-worked move orchestrated by Majak.
Majak continued to dictate proceedings and turned provider again in the 66th minute, setting up Peter Manyang to make it 3-0 and effectively put the contest beyond reach.
The forward then crowned his outstanding performance with a goal of his own in the 81st minute, sealing an emphatic victory for the home side.
The result leaves Djibouti with a daunting task in the return leg, as they must produce an exceptional performance to overturn the heavy deficit.
With both legs scheduled to be played in Juba, South Sudan will be confident of completing the job and advancing to the next stage of the qualifiers, where six teams will secure places in the group phase of the AFCON 2027 campaign.
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Eritrea marked their long-awaited return to continental football with a 2-0 victory over Eswatini in the first leg of their preliminary round clash in the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifiers on Wednesday.
Playing in Meknes, Morocco, the Eritreans secured a late win to take a strong advantage into the return leg next week.
After a closely contested encounter, Eritrea broke the deadlock in the 81st minute through Siem Eyob-Abraha, whose corner kick evaded everyone in the box and went straight into the net.
The victory was sealed deep into stoppage time when talisman Ali Suleiman produced a moment of brilliance. The forward embarked on a dazzling run down the left before unleashing a powerful shot into the roof of the net to double Eritrea’s lead.
Despite their win, Eritrea could have extended their advantage earlier, but Suleiman missed from the penalty spot after Eswatini goalkeeper Mlamuli Makhanya dived low to his right to make a crucial save.
The match marked Eritrea’s first appearance in AFCON qualification in nearly two decades, with their last outing coming against Eswatini in 2007, where they finished second in their qualification group.
The two sides will meet again in Eswatini for the second leg on Tuesday, where Eritrea will aim to protect their lead and advance to the next stage.
The winner of the tie will progress from the preliminary round to join 42 other teams in the group phase of qualification.
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, marking the tournament’s return to East Africa for the first time in over 50 years.
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The journey to the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 begins this week as 12 nations battle for six available spots in the preliminary round of qualifiers.
The opening phase of the race for AFCON PAMOJA 2027, set to be jointly hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, will see the continent’s lowest-ranked teams, based on FIFA rankings at the time of the draw, compete over two legs for a place in the group stage qualifiers.
Race for Six Places
Following the success of the 2025 tournament in Morocco, a new qualification cycle gets underway with fixtures spread across Southern, Eastern and Central Africa.
The preliminary round promises closely contested encounters, with teams aiming to gain an early advantage before decisive return legs.
Among the standout fixtures:
- Eritrea face Eswatini in Meknes before the return leg in Lobamba
- Lesotho and Seychelles meet twice in Bloemfontein
- Djibouti and South Sudan clash in back-to-back matches in Juba
- Somalia take on Mauritius across two legs in Mozambique and Saint Pierre
- Chad battle Burundi between N’Djamena and Bujumbura
- São Tomé and Príncipe face Ethiopia, with matches in El Jadida and Dire Dawa
The six winners from these ties will advance to join 42 other teams in the group stage qualifiers.
Some ties present unusual dynamics, notably Djibouti versus South Sudan, where both legs will be played in Juba, giving South Sudan a potential home advantage in both fixtures.
Similarly, Lesotho and Seychelles will contest both legs in Bloemfontein, adding another interesting twist to the qualification format.
Qualification Format and Timeline
The next phase will feature a group stage involving 13 groups of three or four teams. The 13 group winners qualify automatically. They will be joined by three best runners-up. The remaining 10 runners-up compete in a playoff round for the final qualifying spots
Key qualification windows are scheduled for:
- September 21–30, 2026: Match Day 1 and 2
- October 1–6, 2026: Match Day 3 and 4
- November 9–17, 2026: Match Day 5 and 6.
The finals, scheduled from June 19 to July 18, 2027, will mark a historic moment as the first Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by three countries. It will also be the last to hold under the two-year cycle.
As the preliminary round kicks off, smaller footballing nations have a rare opportunity to build momentum and dream of reaching the continent’s biggest stage.
For the 12 teams involved, the message is clear: the road to AFCON 2027 starts now—and only half will take the next step.
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