Nigeria’s Super Eagles were unable to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Ghana on Tuesday.
Ghana qualified with an away goal advantage. On Tuesday, the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja welcomed arch-rivals Ghana in the second leg of the 2022 World Cup playoff. Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Cup by defeating Ghana in Abuja on Tuesday, which would have been the country’s fourth consecutive trip at the global competition.
After forcing a 1-1 draw in Nigeria on Tuesday to win the African play-off on away goals, Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey scored the goal that qualified Ghana for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Nigeria failed to score again after Partey scored after 10 minutes in Abuja, despite another Premier League star, William Troost-Ekong, tying the game with a penalty in the 22nd minute. The first leg concluded in a 0-0 draw.
Ghana’s Black Stars have qualified for the World Cup finals for the fourth time despite missing out four years ago.
Civil servants in Abuja were given a half-day off and free transportation was organized from the suburbs to ensure a capacity of 60,000 fans cheered on the Super Eagles.
Partey’s shot from outside the area slid through goalkeeper Francis Uzoho’s hands and into the net, giving the visitors an early lead.
It was the latest in a string of errors by Nigerian goalkeepers, with Maduka Okoyo being held responsible for the Tunisian goal that knocked his team out of the Africa Cup of Nations in the last-16 round.
Midway through the first half, Troost-Ekong was the calmest person in the cauldron of noise when he sent Ghana goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott the wrong way from the penalty spot to equalize.
Soon after, Nigerian attacker Victor Osimhen put the ball in the net, but a VAR assessment deemed him offside.
Ghana entered the two-leg tie as underdogs following a poor showing at the African Cup of Nations in January, with a first-round defeat to minnows the Comoros.