The Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Pharaohs of Egypt will take to the field on Tuesday at the Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua, in their AFCON 2021 Group D opener with the three maximum points, and national pride at stake.
Looking at the age long rivalry, the dicey tie will certainly attract attention Nigeria made her AFCON debut at the 1963 edition held in 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 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 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.
Also read: AFCON 2021: Super Eagles arrive Garoua Cameroon, set to conquer Africa again
The Green Eagles went on to clinch Nigeria’s first ever AFCON title after a comfortable 3-0 win against Algeria in the final.
Led by 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.
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 and Egypt met at 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.
The next clash was at Tunisia 1994, in second group game, which saw both teams play out a 0-0 draw.
Also Read: Nigeria vs Egypt match
The draw was enough to send both teams to the quarter-finals with Nigeria going all the way to the final and became African champions for the second time.
The Pharaoh 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.
In Tuesday’s Make or Mar Group D encounter Nigeria will be seeking too improve on their record, pundits say only a win will give Eagles the needed advantage
(Editor Paul Akhagbemhe)
