Nigeria, who were attempting to qualify for their seventh World Cup, was held to a 1-1 draw at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday night. After the first leg of the playoff ended in a goalless draw in Kumasi on Friday, the Black Stars’ away goal advantage secured their World Cup ticket.
In front of their home fans, the Super Eagles were defeated 1-1 on aggregate thanks to an early strike from Thomas Partey.
Ghana took the lead through Arsenal man’s long-range shot which somehow found a way past Francis Uzoho in the 11th minute.
Nigeria equalized after 22 minutes through a William Troost-Ekong penalty but the Black Stars held on and booked a place in Qatar later this year.
It took VAR to call the center referee’s attention to the monitor to give the penalty. Captain William Troost-Ekong stepped up and sent Joseph Wollacott the wrong way. It was a liftoff for the capacity stadium that had come to cheer the Eagles to Qatar.
Coach Eguavoen made five changes to the team that played goalless in Kumasi with Ademola Lookman, Frank Onyeka, Oghenekaro Etebo, Calvin Bassey, and Emmanuel Dennis replaced Moses Simon, Kelechi Iheanacho, Innocent Bonke, Zaidu Sanusi, and Samuel Chukwueze in the starting line at the Moshood Abiola National that was jam-packed with expectant Nigerian fans.
Osimhen thought he had given the Eagles a lead in the 34th minute but another VAR review showed the Napoli man had stepped offside just before Etebo released the ball.
After Ghanaian coach Otto Addo made a quadruple substitution to open the second half, the game became a ding-dong affair. As the Black Stars kept the Eagles at bay, Wolacott produced a superb stop from a Balogun header in the 71st minute.
It will be Ghana’s fourth and first World Cup participation, following appearances in 2006, 2010, and 2014. After missing out on the 2018 edition in Russia, they are returning to the global football showpiece.
Meanwhile, enraged Nigerians protesting their team’s poor performance destroyed several of the infrastructure at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, the match’s location.
The fans took to the field and attacked all available facilities including breaking and destroying the bench side of the Super Eagles.
It took the intervention of security men who resulted in the shooting of tear gas to send away the angry fans but certainly not after tearing the nets and banners and any other thing within their reach.
Many of the fans blame the match outcome on Coach Austin Eguavon for inappropriate changes.
