Nigeria will play Equatorial Guinea in their opening Group A match at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan on Sunday.
Ahead of the match, CafOnline.com takes a look at some interesting facts and figures of the two sides below:
● This will be the first encounter between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. They faced each other in the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup – Nigeria won both matches (1-0; 2-0).
● Nigeria are making their 20th appearance at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. They have won the tournament on three occasions (1980, 1994, 2013) and reached the semi-finals in 14 of their last 17 AFCON participations.
● Nigeria were beaten finalists the last time the CAF Africa Cup of Nations was held in Côte d’Ivoire, they lost 3-1 against Cameroon in 1984.
● Nigeria have won 12 of their last 15 matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (L3). Their last draw dates back to the 2013 group stages, against Zambia (1-1).
● Nigeria scored 22 goals in six games during qualifying for the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, the highest tally among the 24 teams at this year’s tournament. 10 of those goals came from Victor Osimhen, that’s twice as many as any other player (4 players on 5 goals).
● This is Equatorial Guinea’s fourth CAF Africa Cup of Nations appearance, but it’s only the second time they have qualified as non-hosts. They have so far always reached the knockout stages: quarter-finalists in 2012 and 2021, 4th place in 2015.
● Equatorial Guinea have never scored more than two goals in their previous 15 matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
● Only two of Equatorial Guinea’s 11 goals at AFCON have been scored in the first half of matches.
● Victor Osimhen was directly involved in 55% of Nigeria’s goals during the qualifying campaign (10 goals, 2 assists). It’s the highest tally of goals scored in the qualifying phase of an AFCON edition since Moumouni Dagano with Burkina Faso in 2010 (12 goals).
● Despite Victor Osimhen scoring 10 of their 22 goals, Nigeria had 10 different goal scorers in qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, more than any other team.
