Heading into Tuesday’s third group match at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, statistics show that The Cranes of Uganda surprisingly have a massive edge over the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Sports247 gathered.
Head-to-head records between both countries indicate that Uganda have won more games and Nigeria could not even defeat them the last time both sides met – which was an international friendly in Asaba, Delta State.
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Amazingly, the biggest scalp for Uganda against Nigeria was in the semi-finals of the 1978 AFCON in Ghana, which is now being used as a major reference point for a likely repeat of that shock by The Cranes this Tuesday in Fes, Morocco.
A preview by cafonline noted in part: “Their only previous AFCON meeting came in the semi-finals of the 1978 tournament, when Uganda claimed a 2-1 victory over Nigeria, a result that remains their sole encounter at the finals to date.
“In that 1978 semi-final, Abdulla Nasur gave Uganda the lead in the 11th minute before Martins Eyo equalised for Nigeria in the 54th minute. Phillip Omondi then scored the decisive goal just four minutes later to send Uganda through.
“Overall, the sides have met eight times across all competitions. Uganda hold the edge with four wins to Nigeria’s two, while two matches have ended in draws. Uganda also avoided defeat in their last three matches against Nigeria (W2 D1).
“Nigeria’s last victory over Uganda came in AFCON qualifying for the 2008 tournament, when they won 1-0 on 24 March 2007 at MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta, with Nwankwo Kanu scoring the only goal in the 73rd minute.”
Sports247 reports further, though, going by current form and quality of players, Nigeria towers over Uganda, coupled with the fact that the Eagles have already won two matches at this competition, while The Cranes had to come from behind to force a 1-1 draw with Tanzania in their last match.
