Nigeria’s Super Eagles were grouped with Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, and Sao Tome and Principe for the qualifying campaign of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The two top teams in the group were guaranteed direct passage to Cote d’Ivoire 2023, and it was clear that the earth would have to stop rotating around the sun for the Super Eagles to fail to qualify.
In June 2022, Nigeria opened the campaign with a 2-1 comeback victory over Sierra Leone at the National Stadium in Abuja.
Alex Iwobi scored Nigeria’s first goal of the series: the former Arsenal man netting an expert equaliser five minutes after Jonathan Morsay gave the Leone Stars a shock lead.
And just before halftime, Osimhen stabbed home the winning goal to help Nigeria bag all three points at stake.
The next three points were the easiest for Nigeria as Osimhen scored four goals to help the Super Eagles outclass Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 inside the Stade d’Agadir in Morocco.
Terem Moffi got a brace, while Ademola Lookman, Oghenekaro Etebo, Moses Simon, and Emmanuel Dennis all hit the target on a fine evening away from home.
It was the heaviest defeat in the history of Sao Tome and Principe.
The unthinkable, however, happened in March 2023 when Guinea-Bissau claimed a surprise 1-0 win over Nigeria in Abuja.
It was the Super Eagles’ first loss in an AFCON qualifier since falling 2-0 to South Africa also on home soil in 2017.
The Super Eagles bounced back instantly three days later, though, when a Moses Simon penalty handed Jose Peseiro’s men a 1-0 win in Guinea-Bissau.
Osimhen returned to goalscoring form on matchday five as he netted a brace in Nigeria’s tough 3-2 victory away to Sierra Leone.
The Napoli striker gave Nigeria a 19th-minute lead with a sublime lob and doubled the advantage just past the half-hour mark.
Sierra Leone fought back impressively to draw 2-2, but Zaidu Sanusi combined with Kelechi Iheanacho deep in stoppage time for the winning goal.
On matchday six, Nigeria rounded off their qualifying campaign with another massive 6-0 victory over Sao Tome and Principe, with Osimhen pocketing an excellent hat-trick.
Osimhen finished with ten goals overall – the most any Nigerian has ever managed during the qualifiers – to top the goalscoring chart on the continent.
Five wins and one defeat also earned the Super Eagles 15 points, the top spot in Group A, and the ticket to the biggest football festival in Africa.
No other team scored more goals than Nigeria’s 22 during the qualifying campaign, with the Eagles conceding just four times.
Nigeria will begin their quest for a fourth AFCON trophy with a crunch opening match against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, January 14.
The Super Eagles will tackle hosts Cote d’Ivoire on matchday two before completing their Group A assignment against Guinea-Bissau.
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