Nigeria National Football Team

FIFA Ranking: 35

Governing Body:-

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)

Home Stadiums:-

Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja

Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo

Captain:-

Ahmed Musa

Coach:-

Gernot Rohr

Most Capped Player:-

Vincent Enyeama & Joseph Yobo (101 caps)

Top Scorer:-

Rashidi Yekini (37 goals)

Star Players:-

Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Ahmed Musa, Wilfred Ndidi

Nickname:-

Super Eagles

Rivals:-

Cameroon

Ghana

Algeria

World Cup:-

Appearances: 6

Best Result: Round of 16 (1994, 1998, 2014)

Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON):-

Appearances: 18

Best Result: 3 x Champions (1980, 1994, 2013)

African Nations Championship:-

Appearances: 3

Best Result: Runners-up (2018)

Confederations Cup:-

Appearances: 2

Best Result: 4th (1995)

 

The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in international football. The NFF was launched in 1945 and was given FIFA affiliation in 1960. The Nigerian football team represents its nations under CAF and FIFA.

Nigeria is a part of Zone B of WUFA alongside Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The Nigerian team has historically, always been an African powerhouse. They achieved the highest ever rank for an African nation in the FIFA rankings in 1994 when they were 5th. This is yet to be surpassed by a team from the continent.

The Super Eagles have qualified for 6 of the last 7 FIFA World Cups (including Russia 2018). They only failed to qualify for the 2006 edition. Nigeria also managed to make the Round of 16 on 3 occasions out of these 6.

Nigeria has an upcoming star, Victor Osimhen leading their frontline. The Napoli striker is beginning to make waves in Italy’s Serie A so Nigerians fans have a lot to get excited about.

The Super Eagles are the most decorated team in the Africa Cup of Nations. They have won a total of fifteen medals – 3 championships, 4 runners-up medals and 8 3rd place finishes in their 18 total appearances. They have only failed to finish 3rd or above on 3 occasions!

Nigeria also has an Olympic gold medal in football back in 1973 followed by a silver in 1978.

 

Football in Nigeria

Football is the most popular sport in Nigeria.

The Super Eagles compete regularly for international titles and a lot of Nigerian footballers play their domestic football in Europe, especially, England.

Nigeria has produced some of the best talents in world football – Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and John Obi Mikel are just a few names that really stand out.

Nigeria’s youth team has won the U-17 FIFA World Cup 5 times including the inaugural competition in 1985.

The Nigerian football system is a 3-tier system with promotion and relegation across its leagues.

Sitting at the top of the tiers is the Nigeria Premier League, also known as the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL). It features 20 teams with the bottom 4 getting relegated to the 2nd division.

The 2nd division of the Nigerian football system is known as the National League. 42 teams participate in a round-robin league format to determine the 4 teams that get promoted to division 1. The bottom 6 teams are relegated to the 3rd tier.

The 3rd and final major football tier is called the Nationwide League. This features 40 teams and the bottom 8 move down to the 2nd division of the Nationwide League followed by further relegation into the 3rd division.

Betting in Nigeria