Nigeria’s Super Eagles out to avoid unwanted 42-Year AFCON record

Scenes from the opening ceremony of the 13th Africa Cup of Nations, which were held in Libya. Nigeria went into the tournament as defending champions but crashed out in the group stage. Photo: CAF

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will give their very best in order not to match an unwanted 42-year record when the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off in Cote d’Ivoire today.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria are hoping for a successful outing at AFCON 2023. Photo: AFP

The Super Eagles are vying to win a fourth AFCON title in history, having previously done so at Nigeria 1980, Tunisia 1994 and South Africa 2013 but they face a tough task as the tournament starts.

With Nigeria in Group A alongside host nation, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, it may look quite easy for the Super Eagles to go through to the knockout stages of the tournament.

Nigeria captain Christian Chukwu is congratulated by Nigeria President Shehu Shagari (l) as he lifts the African Cup of Nations after his team’s 3-0 victory (Photo by Peter Robinson/EMPICS via Getty Images)

On the other side, though, the team will still aim to avoid matching an unwanted 42-year record of crashing out of AFCON group stage, a sad incident which last happened at the 1982 edition of AFCON.

Nigeria failed woefully in their quest to defend the trophy which they won in 1980 as they were eliminated in the group stage of the 1982 edition of the AFCON in Libya which was their fifth appearance overall.

Despite starting the competition with an impressive 3–0 bashing of Ethiopia courtesy of a brace from a young and fresh-looking Stephen Keshi, Nigeria lost 2–1 to Algeria and 3–0 against Zambia to exit the AFCON 42-years ago.

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