Since the Nigerian football team played its first official match in 1949, they’ve gone on to play hundreds of other games. Some have resulted in wins, others draws, and the rest loss. In this article, we’re looking at the positive side. Check out Nigeria’s biggest wins in football – the games where Super Eagles scored the most goals.
1. Nigeria 7 – 1 Burkina Faso
Nigeria played Burkina Faso in the AFCON Group stage in 1991. In that game, Nigeria won by 7 goals to 1 and it was the biggest win in Super Eagles history. The match was played in Surulere, Lagos state.
Rashidi Yekini was the main star of this game as he found the net four times. At the time, Nigeria was on a winning streak against Burkina Faso as they’ve played the country 5 times and won all. The one goal in this match by Mbemba Toure was the first in all 5 games.
The remaining three goals for Nigeria was scored by Samson Siasia, Finidi George, and Friday Elahor respectively. Earlier in the group stage, Nigeria had drawn 1 – 1 with Burkina Faso with goals from Ekpo and Outtara.
Nigeria finished the group in second position behind Ghana and would go on to finish third place in the 1992 AFCON after losing to Ghana as well in the semi-finals.
2. Tahiti 1- 6 Nigeria
In 2013, Nigeria played Tahiti in the Confederations Cup and it’s the most recent biggest win in Super Eagles history. Nigeria trashed the Tahiti football team with 6 goals and only conceded 1.
This was the first group stage match for Nigeria in the competition. The win saw Nigeria go on top of the group. Nigeria was helped by two own goals by two Tahiti players – Tehau and Vallar. Furthermore, Oduamadi scored a hat trick and Elderson scored the other goal.
Tahiti performed very poor in the campaign as other teams in the group trashed them too with even higher goals than Nigeria. It was the first time they were playing in a major tournament.
In fact, Nigeria is the only country the team managed to score against and you should see the way they celebrated one goal after conceding 6. For emphasis, Spain won Tahiti 10 goals to nothing while Uruguay won them with 8 goals to nothing.
3. Nigeria 6 – 1 Liberia
The third biggest win in this list has the same scoreline as the second, 6 – 1. Also, it came a year before the Tahiti game in 2012. This shows how in form Nigeria was in the early 2010s.
This match against Liberia was an AFCON qualification match. A competition which the super Eagles would later win and would make them contest in the confederation’s cup.
Nigeria had earlier drawn 2 – 2 with Liberia in the first leg of tie therefore, it was a must win game if they were going to qualify. Furthermore, it was on Nigeria’s soil the Super Eagles were in favor.
The game saw goals from Victor Moses, John Obi Mikel, Efe Ambrose, Ahmed Musa, and Ikechumwu Uche for Nigeria. While other players scored just once, Victor Moses scored twice. The only goal managed by Liberia was scored by Patty Wleh and it came after Nigeria’s 5th goal.
4. Nigeria 6 – 0 Ethiopia
Nigeria’s fourth biggest win on this list came against Ethiopia in 1993. The Super Eagles trashed Ethiopia with 6 goals to nothing in the 1993 AFCON qualifiers.
Once again, Rashidi Yekini was at the core of the victory as the super striker found the net 3 times. After Inenga opened the scoring in the 29th minute, Rashidi Yekini scored in the 33rd, 44th, and 64th minute. The fourth goal came from Nduka Ugbade in the 50th minute.
Notably, the Nigerian goalkeeper, Peter Rufus, was not left out of the action as he scored the final goal for the Super Eagles in the 90th minute. He scored via a penalty.
5. Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
Here’s another big win that came from a qualifying match. This time, it wasn’t the AFCON but instead, the FIFA World Cup. The match against Zimbabwe was played in 2005 and Nigeria was at home.
Zimbabwe’s defense were run over by Nigeria’s staunch attacking force consisting of Peter Odemwingie, Stephen Makinwa, and Obafemi Martins. Likewise, there was little their attack could do against the likes of Obinna Nwaneri, Joseph Yobo, Ayila Yussuf, Taye Taiwo, and Chidi Odiah.
Obafemi Martins opened the scoring in the 36th minute and surprisingly, that was the only goal of the first half. The rest came in the second half. Yussuf scored the second goal in the 63 minute and about 8 minutes later, Zimbabwe drew one back via Benjadi.
Nevertheless, 5 minutes later, Martins netted his second of the day and then Nwankwo Kanu, who was brought on as a sub, scored the 4th goal for Nigeria in the 81st minute. At the end of the match, Peter Odemwingie buried the game with Nigeria’s 5th goal.
6. Nigeria 4 – 0 South Africa
Nigeria has won South Africa with 4 goals to nothing on multiple occasions. However, the game being referred to here is the 2003 AFCON Group game. It’s a historic game as it was the game when Jay Jay Okocha scored the 1,000th goal of the AFCON competition.
When the penalty was won, there was the decision to make as to who would score the landmark goal. It was given to Okocha as one of the best players Africa has seen.
Aside from Jay Jay scoring in the 64th minute, the other goals came from Peter Odemwinge who scored twice and Joseph Yobo who opened the scoring in the 5th minute.
Bottom Line
Which of the games mentioned above did you watch live? It’s always a joy when the Super Eagles win a football match and talk more of when they score this high. Now, you know Nigeria’s biggest wins in football.