Nigerian national soccer team / world championships

Nigeria
Federal Republic of Nigeria

World Cup record goalscorer:	Ahmed Musa (4)
World Cup record players:	Joseph Yobo (10)
Rank :	29
Balance sheet
21 World Cup games 6 wins 3 draws 12 defeats 23:30 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Nigeria 3-0 Bulgaria Dallas ( USA ); June 21, 1994
Biggest World Cup win Nigeria 3-0 Bulgaria Dallas ( USA ); June 21, 1994
Biggest World Cup defeat Nigeria 1: 4 Denmark Saint-Denis ( FRA ); June 28, 1998
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	6 ( first : 1994 )
Best results	Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of June 26, 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Nigerian national soccer team at soccer world championships . The Nigerian team took part for the first time in qualifying for the 1962 World Cup and was able to qualify for the World Cup six times. In the all-time ranking, Nigeria is the best African team in 29th place, has won the most World Cup games of all African teams and is the only African team to have reached the knockout round three times, but failed each time in the round of 16.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				Not an independent state
1934	Italy	not participated				Not an independent state
1938	France	not participated				Not an independent state
1950	Brazil	not participated				Not an independent state
1954	Switzerland	not participated				Not an independent state
1958	Sweden	not participated				Not an independent state
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification of Ghana failed, but that could not qualify well.
1966	England	withdrawn				All 15 African teams withdrew from the qualification as FIFA only allowed the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania one place in the final round.
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the final at Morocco failed.
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round, Ghana failed again , but they also failed to qualify.
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification in the 4th round to Tunisia failed.
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification in the 4th round to Algeria failed.
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the semifinals, Tunisia failed again , but they also failed to qualify.
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification in the 2nd round to Cameroon failed.
1994	United States	Round of 16	Italy	9.	Clemens Westerhof	Defeat in extra time
1998	France	Round of 16	Denmark	12.	Bora Milutinović
2002	South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round	Argentina , Sweden , England	27.	Adegboye Onigbinde	Eliminated as last group
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round of Angola failed.
2010	South Africa	Preliminary round	Argentina , Greece , South Korea	27.	Lars Lagerbäck	Eliminated as last group
2014	Brazil	Round of 16	France	16.	Stephen Keshi	As in 1994, 2002 and 2010, Nigeria met Argentina in the group stage of the finals and, for the first time at a World Cup, they faced Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran .
2018	Russia	Preliminary round	Croatia Iceland Argentina	21st	Gernot pipe	Eliminated as third in the group with one win and two losses.

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Did not take part (no independent state or not recognized): 6 × (29%; 1930 to 1958),
• Withdrawn: 1 × (5%; 1966)
• Not qualified: 8 × (38%; 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2006)
• Athletic qualification: 6 × (29% or 43% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 3 × (14%; 2002, 2010 and 2018)
  • Round of 16: 3 × (14%; 1994, 1998 and 2014)

World Cup tournaments

1930 to 1958

Nigeria was part of British West Africa from 1861 to 1961 . The Nigeria Football Association, the forerunner of the Nigeria Football Federation , was founded in 1945, but was only incorporated into FIFA in the year of independence. Therefore, the Nigerians could not take part in the first six world championships.

1962 in Chile

Nigeria first took part in qualifying for the World Cup in Chile and met Ghana on August 28, 1960 in the first round in Accra in their first World Cup qualifier . The game was lost with 1: 4. The second leg in Lagos ended 2-2. Nigeria was eliminated, but the Ghanaians also failed in the next round to Morocco , which then failed in the Africa / Europe playoff to Spain. So no African team could qualify.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in the "motherland of football" , Nigeria should play against Egypt and Libya in the qualifying round . But since the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania were only allowed one place in the final round, all 15 African teams withdrew. South Korea also waived. Only Australia and North Korea took part in the qualification, North Korea qualified for the World Cup.

1970 in Mexico

For the first World Cup in Mexico, the Africans were awarded a direct starting place, for which eleven teams competed. Nigeria had to play against neighboring Cameroon in the first round of qualifying . In the home game it was only 2-2. In the second leg in Douala , however, the 3-2 win was their first victory in a World Cup qualifier. In the second round, the team was able to return the favor for the elimination against Ghana eight years earlier. After a 2-1 win in Nigeria, a 1-1 draw in the second leg was enough to advance to the next round. In this, however, Nigeria failed to Morocco, which was able to qualify for the first time, which is the first time since 1934 that an African team was represented at the World Cup.

1974 in Germany

In qualifying for the World Cup in the Federal Republic of Germany, Nigeria met the People's Republic of Congo in the first round and won the home game 2-1, so a 1-1 draw in the second leg was enough to reach the second round. In this, the Ghanaians were able to return the favor four years earlier and win 3-2 in Nigeria, so that a goalless draw at home was enough for them to reach the third round. In this then Ghana failed to Zaire , which was then able to qualify as the first sub-Saharan team for the World Cup. So far this has been the only participation for Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

1978 in Argentina

In qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina , Nigeria prevailed against Sierra Leone in the first round . The second round was survived without a fight, as Zaire waived. The Ivory Coast was eliminated in the third round , but Tunisia were stronger in the final round, qualifying for the first time, and Egypt was also placed ahead of Nigeria.

1982 in Spain

For the World Cup in Spain , the number of starting places was increased and the Africans were granted another. In qualifying , the Nigerians had to play against Tunisia in the first round. After both won their home games, the penalty shoot-out had to decide. This went 4: 3 in favor of the Nigerians. In the second round Tanzania was eliminated with 1: 1 and 2: 0 and in the third round Guinea with 1: 1 and 1: 0. In the last round Algeria was stronger, won both games 2-0 and 2-1 and qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

1986 in Mexico

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Mexico , the Nigerians had to play against Liberia in the first round and prevailed 3-0 and 1-0. In the second round they also won two wins against Kenya (3-0 and 3-1). The last stop was in the third round, in which a 1-0 home game against Tunisia was not enough, as they lost 2-0 in Tunisia. Tunisia then failed in the last round to Algeria.

1990 in Italy

To qualify for the second World Cup in Italy , the Nigerians only had to play against Cameroon , Angola and Gabon in the second round . Nigeria won all their home games and drew 2-2 in Angola but lost the other two away games. Since Cameroon won four games, played only one draw and lost, the neighbor had two points more in the end and after two wins against Tunisia in the last round went to Italy, where he defeated defending champions Argentina in the opening game and was the first to be African Team advanced to the quarter-finals.

1994 in the United States

The qualification for the World Cup in the USA , for which the Africans received another starting place, was finally successful. Nigeria would play in a group against South Africa , the Republic of the Congo and Libya . Libya waived and with three wins and a draw against the other two teams Nigeria won the group. In the next round, Ivory Coast and Algeria were the opponents. Nigeria won tied with the Ivorians, as they were the only team to have a positive goal difference, and were thus qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time.

Nigeria traveled to the World Cup finals as the newly crowned African champion . In the United States, they faced Bulgaria in their first World Cup game and won 3-0, with Rashidi Yekini , top scorer of the African Cup, scoring Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal. After a 1: 2 against vice world champions Argentina , the knockout round was reached with a 2: 0 against World Cup newcomers Greece . Here they met three-time world champions Italy and took the lead in the 25th minute. Two minutes before the end of regular time, Roberto Baggio managed to equalize the Italians, who were only playing with 10 players ( Gianfranco Zola had received the red card in the 75th minute ), which meant extra time. In this, Baggio was able to convert a penalty in the 100th minute to make it 2-1 for the Europeans. With the round of 16, Nigeria had pulled out of the affair respectably and the players were welcomed enthusiastically in their home country.

1998 in France

The qualification for the second World Cup in France, for which the Africans were even entitled to five starting places, was again successful. In the first round Nigeria had a bye and in the second round they eliminated Guinea , Kenya and Burkina Faso and qualified again. Only the last game in Guinea was lost when the qualification was already certain.

Nigeria traveled to the World Cup finals with a squad that included 12 players who won the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 . They were supervised by Bora Milutinović who had previously led Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990) and the USA (1994) to the finals. In France, the first game against Spain was won 3: 2 and the team also retained the upper hand against Bulgaria 1: 0, so that a 1: 3 against Paraguay in the last group game could be coped with to reach the round of 16 as group winners. Nigeria was therefore the favorite against Denmark , but had to accept the 0: 1 in the third minute and then went down with 1: 4.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia, the Nigerians beat Eritrea 0-0 and 4-0 in the first round . In the second round, Liberia , Ghana , Sudan and Sierra Leone were the opponents. With one point ahead of Liberia with George Weah , Africa's footballer of the century , the World Cup finals were reached for the third time.

For the finals, Nigeria was drawn into a death group with Argentina , Sweden and England . After a 0: 1 against Argentina a 1: 2 against Sweden followed and only against England, which was enough to draw, a point could be won with the goalless draw. As the bottom of the group, Nigeria was eliminated for the first time in the preliminary round.

2006 in Germany

Nigeria could not qualify for the second World Cup in Germany . After a bye in the first round, only second place was taken in the second round in a group with Angola , Zimbabwe , Gabon , Algeria and Rwanda . The Nigerians had a better goal difference than the Angolans tied on points, but in a direct comparison (0: 1 and 1: 1) they were worse. This was the first time Angola went to the World Cup finals, where the Angolans met the former colonial power Portugal.

2010 in South Africa

The qualification for the first World Cup in Africa was then successfully completed again. The signs were initially bad. In March 2007 Berti Vogts was hired as a coach to lead the team to the World Cup. After the round of 16 at the 2008 African Cup of Nations and quarrels with the Nigerian Association, he threw in the towel in February 2008. Shaibu Amodu was his successor . In the second round, the World Cup hosts South Africa , which took part in the qualification as it also served as qualification for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, were the opponents of Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea . Nigeria won all six games and qualified for the third round. In this, Tunisia, Mozambique and Kenya were the opponents. After three wins and three draws, the Nigerians had one point more than Tunisia, which lost in Mozambique on the last day of the match and thus missed the World Cup. Although Shaibu Amodu led Nigeria to the World Cup, he was dismissed in February 2010 and replaced by the Swede Lars Lagerbäck .

In South Africa, like four years before, Nigeria met Argentina in their first game and lost again 1-0. In the second game they lost 2-1 to the Greeks trained by Otto Rehhagel , who won a World Cup game for the first time. With a win in their final group game against South Korea if they had still to reach the knockout stages. The 2: 2 was too little and so Nigeria was eliminated as last group eight years earlier. With the World Cup ended, Lagerbäck's work as Nigerian national coach ended.

2014 in Brazil

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil was also successful. In the group stage, Malawi , Kenya and Namibia were the opponents. With three wins and three draws the playoffs of the group winners were reached. Opponent was Ethiopia and after two wins (2: 1 and 2: 0) the World Cup finals were reached.

They traveled to the World Cup as the 2013 African champions . The coach was Stephen Keshi , who played a World Cup in 1994. For the fourth time, Argentina was one of the opponents in the preliminary round, as was Iran and World Cup newcomer Bosnia and Herzegovina . With a 0-0 win against Iran, Nigeria started poorly in the World Cup. This was followed by a 1-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, with which the newcomer was already eliminated, and a 2-3 defeat against Argentina. With Iran losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria reached the round of 16. In this they met the French , who had improved compared to the 2010 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the preliminary round as vice world champions. France were favored, but it took until the 79th minute to take the lead from Paul Pogba , who was later named Best Young Player. In the second minute of stoppage time, record international player Joseph Yobo , who had made his 100th international match against Argentina, underwent an own goal , leaving Nigeria 2-0. The national team career of Joseph Yobo ended with the World Cup and Stephen Keshi resigned from his position as national coach.

2018 in Russia

Nigeria began qualifying under Sunday Oliseh and only had to intervene in the second round, which took place in November 2015. Opponents were Swaziland , which had eliminated Djibouti in the first round . After a goalless draw in the away game, the home game was won 2-0 and the third round reached. In this between October 2016 and November 2017 Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia were the opponents. Nigeria started with two wins (2-1 against Zambia and 3-1 against Algeria), now under Gernot Rohr , who took over the position of Technical Advicer in August 2016 . After a 4-0 home win against African champions Cameroon and a 1-1 draw in Cameroon, a 1-0 win against Zambia on the penultimate matchday made it the first African team to "book" their ticket to the World Cup.

In the finals, Nigeria lost 2-0 to Croatia in the first game, then won 2-0 against Iceland and would have reached the knockout round with a draw in the last game against Argentina, as Argentina had also lost to Croatia and had only achieved one draw against Iceland. Argentina's record scorer Lionel Messi put his team in front after just 14 minutes. Victor Moses was able to compensate for this in the 51st minute with a converted penalty , but the Africans did not bring the draw over time, because in the 87th minute Argentina was able to take the lead again and did not give it up. Nigeria was eliminated after the group stage, but was able to improve its all-time ranking by beating Iceland by three places, replacing Cameroon as the best-placed African team.

player

Ranking of the Nigerian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Joseph Yobo - 10 appearances in 3 tournaments

02. Jay-Jay Okocha - 9 appearances in 3 tournaments

03. Vincent Enyeama , Finidi George , Sunday Oliseh , Peter Rufai and Rashidi Yekini - 8 appearances in 2 tournaments

08. Mutiu Adepoju , John Obi Mikel , Ahmed Musa and Uche Okechukwu - 7 appearances in 2 (Mikel and Musa) and 3 tournaments respectively

12. Nwankwo Kanu , Peter Odemwingie , Kenneth Omeruo and Taribo West - 6 appearances in 2 or 3 (canoe) tournaments

Ranking of the Nigerian World Cup players with the most goals

01. Ahmed Musa 4 goals

02. Daniel Amokachi , Emmanuel Amuneke and Kalu Uche 2 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1994: Peter Rufai (1st and 2nd game, round of 16), Stephen Keshi (3rd game)
• 1998: Uche Okechukwu
• 2002: Jay-Jay Okocha
• 2010: Joseph Yobo (1st and 2nd game), Nwankwo Kanu (3rd game)
• 2014: Vincent Enyeama (1st game), Joseph Yobo (2nd and 3rd game, round of 16)
• 2018: John Obi Mikel

Players banned from World Championships

• 1994: Michael Emenalo and Sunday Oliseh received the second yellow card in the round of 16 , but this had no further effect as Nigeria were eliminated.
• 2010: Sani Kaita received the red card in the second group game and was suspended for the last group game. Chinedu Obasi received the second yellow card in the last group game . Since Nigeria was eliminated, this had no effect.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

The Nigerians initially nominated only players playing abroad. In 2002, the two substitute goalkeepers Austin Ejide and Vincent Enyeama , who also played, were the first two players playing in Nigeria in the squad. In 2010, only legionnaires were taken into account and in 2014 there were four players playing in Nigeria in the squad, but only Ejike Uzoenyi was used.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1994 (4)	22 (1 in Egypt, 6 in Belgium, 1 in Denmark, 3 in Germany, 1 in England, 2 in France, 1 in Israel, 3 in the Netherlands, 1 in Portugal, 2 in Spain, 1 in Turkey)	Emmanuel Amuneke (4); AlloySius Agu (0), Daniel Amokachi (4), Augustine Eguavoen (3), Stephen Keshi (1), Chidi N'Wanu (4), Sunday Oliseh (4); Emeka Ezeugo (1); Michael Emenalo (4), Uche Okafor (0), Jay-Jay Okocha (3); Efan Ekoku (0); Victor Ikpeba (0); Samson Siasia (3); Thompson Oliha (1); Finidi George (4), Benedict Iroha (1), Peter Rufai (4); Rashidi Yekini (4); Mutiu Adepoju (4), Wilfred Agbonavbare (0); Uche Okechukwu (4)
1998 (4)	22 (1 in Belgium, 1 in England, 3 in France, 2 in Italy, 3 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia, 2 in Switzerland, 4 in Spain, 1 in South Africa, 3 in Turkey, 1 in the USA)	Mobi Oparaku (1); Celestine Babayaro (3); Victor Ikpeba (3), Godwin Okpara (2), Wilson Oruma (1); Nwankwo Kanu (3), Taribo West (4); Tijani Babangida (4), Garba Lawal (4), Sunday Oliseh (4); Augustine Eguavoen (1); Abiodun Baruwa (0), Rashidi Yekini (4); Mutiu Adepoju (3), Finidi George (4), Benedict Iroha (1), Peter Rufai (4); William Okpara (0); Daniel Amokachi (1), Jay-Jay Okocha (3), Uche Okechukwu (3); Uche Okafor (1)
2002 (3)	21 (2 in Belgium, 1 in China, 1 in Germany, 3 in England, 3 in France, 1 in Greece, 1 in Israel, 1 in Qatar, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia, 2 in Switzerland, 1 in Spain, 2 in Ukraine)	Rabiu Afolabi (0), Justice Christopher (3); Benedict Akwuegbu (1); Taribo West (2); Celestine Babayaro (2), Nwankwo Kanu (2), Efetobore Sodje (2); Bartholomew Ogbeche (2), Jay-Jay Okocha (3), Joseph Yobo (3); Ifeanyi Udeze (2); Eric Ejiofor (0); John Utaka (1); Pius Ikedia (3), Garba Lawal (1); James Obiorah (1); Femi Opabunmi (0), Ike Shorunmu (2); Mutiu Adepoju (0); Julius Aghahowa (3), Isaac Okoronkwo (3)
2010 (3)	23 (2 in Germany, 6 in England, 4 in France, 3 in Israel, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Austria, 3 in Russia, 2 in Spain, 1 in Ukraine)	Obafemi Martins (2), Chinedu Obasi (3); Yakubu Aiyegbeni (3), Dickson Etuhu (3), Nwankwo Kanu (1), Danny Shittu (3), John Utaka (0), Joseph Yobo (3); Ideye Brown (0), Elderson Echiéjilé (2), Lukman Haruna (2), Taye Taiwo (2); Dele Aiyenugba (0), Austin Ejide (0), Vincent Enyeama (3); Dele Adeleye (3); Rabiu Afolabi (2); Sani Kaita (2), Peter Odemwingie (2), Chidi Odiah (3); Victor Obinna (2), Kalu Uche (3); Ayila Yussuf (1)
2014 (4)	19 (2 in Belgium, 6 in England, 1 in France, 2 in Israel, 1 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia, 1 in Scotland, 1 in Spain, 2 in Turkey, 1 in Ukraine)	Reuben Gabriel (1); Michael Uchebo (1); Shola Ameobi (2), John Obi Mikel (4), Victor Moses (2), Peter Odemwingie (4), Kenneth Omeruo (4), Joseph Yobo (4); Vincent Enyeama (4); Austin Ejide (0), Juwon Oshaniwa (4); Ogenyi Onazi (4); Uche Nwofor (2); Ahmed Musa (4); Ivy ambrose (4); Ramon Azeez (1); Emmanuel Emenike (4), Godfrey Oboabona (1); Michel Babatunde (2)
2018 (3)	21 (1 in Belgium, 2 in China, 1 in Germany, 5 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Israel, 2 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia, 2 in Spain, 1 in South Africa, 4 in the Turkey)	Elderson Echiéjilé; Odion Ighalo (3), John Obi Mikel (3); Leon Balogun (3); Kelechi Iheanacho (3), Alex Iwobi (3), Victor Moses (3), Ahmed Musa (3), Wilfred Ndidi (3); Chidozie Awaziem ; John Ogu ; Joel Obi , Simy (2); Tyronne Ebuehi (1); Brian Idowu (3); Oghenekaro Etebo (3), Francis Uzoho (3); Daniel Akpeyi ; Kenneth Omeruo (2), Ogenyi Onazi , Abdullahi Shehu (1), William Troost-Ekong (3)

Games

The Nigerians have played 21 World Cup games so far, six of which have been won, twelve lost and three have ended in a draw. A game had to be extended and was lost in overtime. The Nigerians never met the host, never the defending champion and never the eventual world champion, but three times against a newcomer (Greece / 1994, when Nigeria was a newcomer, Bosnia-Herzegovina / 2014, Iceland / 2018). The Nigerians played most often against Argentina: five times so far (no teams played against each other more often in the preliminary round).

No.	date	Result	opponent	venue		occasion	comment
1	06/21/1994	3-0	Bulgaria	Dallas ( USA )	*	Preliminary round	First game against Bulgaria, 250th game of Nigeria counted by FIFA.
2	06/25/1994	1: 2	Argentina	Foxborough ( USA )	*	Preliminary round	First game against Argentina
3	06/30/1994	2-0	Greece	Foxborough ( USA )	*	Preliminary round
4th	07/05/1994	1: 2 a.d.	Italy	Foxborough ( USA )	*	Round of 16	First game against Italy
5	06/13/1998	3: 2	Spain	Nantes ( FRA )	*	Preliminary round	First game against Spain
6th	06/19/1998	1-0	Bulgaria	Paris ( FRA )	*	Preliminary round
7th	06/24/1998	1: 3	Paraguay	Toulouse ( FRA )	*	Preliminary round	First game against Paraguay
8th	06/28/1998	1: 4	Denmark	Saint-Denis ( FRA )	*	Round of 16	First game against Denmark
9	06/02/2002	0: 1	Argentina	Ibaraki ( JPN )	*	Preliminary round
10	06/07/2002	1: 2	Sweden	Kobe ( JPN )	*	Preliminary round
11	06/12/2002	0-0	England	Osaka ( JPN )	*	Preliminary round
12	06/12/2010	0: 1	Argentina	Johannesburg ( ZAF )	*	Preliminary round
13	06/17/2010	1: 2	Greece	Mangaung / Bloemfontein ( ZAF )	*	Preliminary round
14th	06/22/2010	2: 2	South Korea	Durban ( ZAF )	*	Preliminary round
15th	06/16/2014	0-0	Iran	Curitiba ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round
16	06/21/2014	1-0	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Cuiaba ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round	First game against Bosnia and Herzegovina
17th	06/25/2014	2: 3	Argentina	Porto Alegre ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round
18th	06/30/2014	0: 2	France	Brasília ( BRA )	*	Round of 16
19th	June 16, 2018	0: 2	Croatia	Kaliningrad ( RUS )	*	Group game	First game against Croatia
20th	06/22/2018	2-0	Iceland	Volgograd ( RUS )	*	Group game
21st	06/26/2018	1: 2	Argentina	Saint Petersburg ( RUS )	*	Group game	5th preliminary round match against Argentina (most common preliminary round pairing)

Highest victories and defeats

The following World Cup victories in Nigeria were also the highest victories against these teams:

•  Bosnia and Herzegovina : Preliminary round 2014 - 1-0 (only game against Bosnia and Herzegovina)
•  Bulgaria : preliminary round 1994 - 3-0
•  Greece : preliminary round 1994 (only win against the Greeks)
•  Iceland : Preliminary round 2018 (only win against Iceland)
•  Spain : Preliminary round 1998 3-2 (only win against Spain)

Nigeria suffered its biggest defeats against the following teams in World Cup tournaments:

•  Denmark : Round of 16 1998 - 1: 4 (only game against Denmark)
•  France : Round of 16 2014 - 2-1 (only loss to France)
•  Italy : Round of 16 1994 - 2-1 (only loss to Italy)
•  Croatia : Preliminary round 2018 - 0: 2 (only game against Croatia)
•  Paraguay : 2002 preliminary round - 1: 3 (only defeat to Paraguay)

particularities

• Second fastest goal after replacing an opponent by Ebbe Sand (Denmark) after 21 seconds at the 1998 World Cup in the round of 16.
• The most frequent pairings in the preliminary round (5 times each) were Nigeria against Argentina (1994, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018)

See also

Nigerian Women's National Football Team / World Championships

Web links

• fifa.com: Nigeria

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ punchng.com: "BREAKING: NFF picks Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles coach"
3. ↑ Neither FIFA nor rsssf.com named a captain for the group match against Paraguay, in which he was not used.
4. ↑ In the 2nd division
5. ↑ ^{a b c} In many sources, the nearby Boston is named as the venue.