AFCON 2021: Nigeria 3 – 2 Egypt: Head-to-Head between Eagles and Pharaohs

The Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Pharaohs of Egypt will take to the field of Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua, in their AFCON 2021 Group D opener today (Tuesday) with the three points, head-to-head and national pride at stake.

Ahead of the big clash, Completesports.com’s JAMES AGBEREBI reveals how both teams have fared against each other in their past eight AFCON matches.

Egypt 6-3 Nigeria (AFCON 1963)

Nigeria made her AFCON debut at the 1963 edition held in West African rivals, Ghana.

The Pharaohs of Egypt were Nigeria’s first ever opponent at the AFCON and at that 1963 tournament, the Egyptians triumphed 6-3.

A 4-0 defeat to Sudan in their second group game saw the Nigerian team crash out.

Nigeria 3 – 2 Egypt (AFCON 1976)

Both country’s second meeting at the AFCON was in 1976 in Ethiopia, in the four-team final round.

A brace from the late Haruna Ilerika and a late strike from Mohammed Lawal saw Nigeria beat Egypt 3-2.

At the end of the final round, Nigeria won the bronze while Morocco were crowned champions and Egypt finished bottom.

Nigeria 1 – 0 Egypt (AFCON 1980)

The third meeting between Nigeria and Egypt at the AFCON was in the group stage of the 1980 edition in Nigeria.

It was both team’s last group game which Nigeria won 1-0, thanks to Okey Isima’s 15th minute winner.

The Green Eagles went on to clinch Nugeria’s first ever AFCON title after a comfortable 3-0 win against Algeria in the final.

Nigeria 2 – 2 Egypt (AFCON 1984)
(8 – 7 pen)

Led Adegboye Onigbinde as the head coach, Nigeria featured in their second AFCON final where they lost 3-1 to Cameroon in 1984.

To get to the final, they had to go past Egypt who they overcame 8-7 on penalties after regulation time ended 2-2.

The Egyptians had raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half, before a penalty from Stephen Keshi and another strike from Ali Baba saw the Nigerians complete a second half comeback.

Nigeria 0 – 0 Egypt (AFCON 1988)

Both countries were drawn in the same group at Maroc ’88, which also had Cameroon and Kenya.

Egypt needed to beat Nigeria in their last group game to stand a chance of progressing into the semi-finals.

But the Nigerian side held Egypt to a goalless draw and advanced to the last four with Cameroon.

Nigeria 1-0 Egypt (AFCON 1990)

Nigeria and Egypt met in the group stage again at the 1990 AFCON held in Algeria.

A first half goal from Rashidi Yekini earned Nigeria a hard fought 1-0 win, which saw them bounce back from the 5-1 hammering in the hands of Algeria in the opening game.

Nigeria progressed alongside Algeria to the semi-finals, while Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire were eliminated.

Nigeria 0 – 0 Egypt (AFCON 1994)

The next clash was at Tunisia 1994, in second group game, which saw both teams play out a 0-0 draw.

The draw was enough to send both teams to the quarter-finals with Nigeria going all the way to the final and be ame African champions for the second time.

Egypt 3 – 1 Nigeria (AFCON 2010)

The Pharaohs recorded their first AFCON win over Nigeria since 1963 following a 3-1 comeback victory in Angola 2010 in their first group game.

Chinedu Obasi gave the Super Eagles an early lead before the Egyptians rallied back to win 3-1.

Egypt went on to win their seventh title while Nigeria won the bronze.