The only time Nigeria and Morocco senior national teams have clashed in Morocco’s administrative capital, Rabat, Nigeria dug their feet into the ground to earn a scoreless draw, win the ensuing penalty shootout and secure qualification to the 14th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cote d’Ivoire.
Date was Saturday, 28th August 1983. Two weeks earlier, in Benin City, both teams had ended the first leg match 0-0. The return leg took place in Rabat, with Coach Adegboye Onigbinde making a number of changes to the squad that featured in Benin City.
Goalkeeper Peter Rufai came in for Wilfred Agbonavbare, and Kingsley Paul, Amos Edoseghe, Anthony Edward, Wole Odegbami and Sunday Daniel came in for Charles Osuji, Henry Nwosu, Rafiu Yusuf, Dehinde Akinlotan and Tarila Okorowanta.
Coach José ‘Mehdi’ Faria, the Brazilian minder of the Atlas Lions, stuck to his regular group, including goalkeeper Badou Ezzaki, Mustapha El Haddaoui, Abdelaziz Bouderbala, Mohamed Timoumi, Abdelmajid Lamriss, Mustapha El Biyaz, Noureddine Bouyahyaoui and Khaled Labied. A closely-fought battle ended 0-0, necessitating a penalty shootout.
Nigeria won 4-3 to qualify for the AFCON finals in Cote d’Ivoire, where she emerged runner-up.
As the Super Eagles file out to the turf of the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Wednesday, they will remember they had never lost a match to the Lions in Rabat.
Yekini’s record on the brink as Iwobi closes in on a century of caps …
Two goals against the Atlas Lions on Wednesday will put Victor James Osimhen at par with Nigeria’s revered ‘goalsfather’ Rashidi Yekini in the number of goals scored for the Nigeria national team at senior level. The Galatasaray of Turkey forward has 35 goals in 51 matches, while ‘Goalsfather’ netted 37 times in his 58 matches for country.
At just 27 years of age and at the peak of his powers, Osimhen is easily tipped to score many more goals for Nigeria, effectively breaking the record set by the gangling poacher of blessed memory. As at the time Yekini passed on 4th May 2012, Osimhen’s name was yet to come into reckoning at international level.
He rang his bell to the universal audience in 2015, when he emerged top scorer (with 10 goals) and second most valuable player of the FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament that Nigeria won in Chile that year.
History beckons on the former SSC Napoli forward on Wednesday night, as the 90 minutes battle, for which he will have Alex Iwobi, Akor Adams and Ademola Lookman providing valuable support, offer him the opportunity to equal the great man’s tally.
Iwobi, who has been extraordinary at this AFCON, is set to win his 96th cap for country, taking him closer to the century-mark of former captain Joseph Yobo, and former goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who garnered 101. Ahmed Musa remains the man-with-the-record at 111 caps.
SUPER EAGLES, ATLAS LIONS IN HISTORY
16 Nov 1963: Nigeria 3-0 Morocco (Olympic Gamesq: Lagos)
08 Mar 1964: Morocco 4-1 Nigeria (Olympic Gamesq: Casablanca)
26 Mar 1964: Morocco 2-1 Nigeria (Olympic Gamesq: Dakar)
21 Sep 1969: Morocco 2-1 Nigeria (FIFA WCq: Casablanca)
08 Nov 1969: Nigeria 2-0 Morocco (FIFA WCq: Ibadan)
20 Feb 1972: Nigeria 3-0 Morocco (Friendly: Lagos)
06 Mar 1976: Morocco 3-1 Nigeria (AFCON: Dire Dawa)
11 Mar 1976: Morocco 2-1 Nigeria (AFCON: Addis Ababa)
03 Apr 1976: Nigeria 3-1 Morocco (Olympic GamesQ: Lagos)
18 Apr 1976: Morocco 1-0 Nigeria (Olympic Gamesq: Tangier)
19 Mar 1980: Nigeria 1-0 Morocco (AFCON semi: Lagos)
14 Aug 1983: Nigeria 0-0 Morocco (AFCONq: Benin City)
28 Aug 1983: Morocco 0-0 Nigeria (AFCONq: Rabat) – Nigeria win 4-3 after penalties
11 Feb 1984: Nigeria 0-0 Morocco (Olympic Gamesq: Lagos)
26 Feb 1984: Morocco 0-0 Nigeria (Olympic Gamesq: Casablanca) – Morocco win 4-3 after penalties
12 Dec 1996: Morocco 2-0 Nigeria (Friendly: Casablanca)
03 Feb 2000: Nigeria 2-0 Morocco (AFCON: Lagos)
27 Jan 2004: Morocco 1-0 Nigeria (AFCON: Monastir)
25 Jan 2014: Morocco 3-4 Nigeria (CHAN: Cape Town)
04 Feb 2018: Morocco 4-0 Nigeria (CHAN Final: Casablanca)
Chelle doing well…
Franco-Malian manager, Éric Sékou Chelle will walk inside the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium with springs in his steps, having never lost a competitive match in regulation time since taking over Nigeria’s ‘A’ squad 12 months ago.
Chelle’s tally is a tidy 11 wins in 17 matches of the Super Eagles, with five draws, and losing once in regulation time to the Pharaohs of Egypt when Nigeria put out an understrength squad in a friendly in Cairo on 16 December.
ÉRIC SÉKOU CHELLE’S SUPER EAGLES DIARY
21 Mar 2025: Rwanda 0-2 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup Q: Kigali)
25 Mar 2025: Nigeria 1-1 Zimbabwe (FIFA World Cup Q: Uyo)
28 May 2025: Nigeria 2-1 Ghana (Unity Cup: London)
31 May 2025: Jamaica 2-2 Nigeria (Unity Cup: London)
. Nigeria won 5-4 on penalties to retain the trophy
06 Jun 2025: Russia 1-1 Nigeria (Friendly: Moscow)
06 Sep 2025: Nigeria 1-0 Rwanda (FIFA World Cup Q: Uyo)
09 Sep 2025: South Africa 1-1 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup Q: Bloemfontein)
10 Oct 2025: Lesotho 1-2 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup Q: Polokwane)
14 Oct 2025: Nigeria 4-0 Bénin Republic (FIFA World Cup Q: Uyo)
13 Nov 2025: Gabon 1-4 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup Playoff: Rabat)
16 Nov 2025: DR Congo 1-1 Nigeria (FIFA World Cup Playoff: Rabat)
. DR Congo win 4-3 on penalties
16 Dec 2025: Egypt 2-1 Nigeria (Friendly: Cairo)
23 Dec 2025: Nigeria 2-1 Tanzania (AFCON: Fès, Morocco)
27 Dec 2025: Nigeria 3-2 Tunisia (AFCON: Fès, Morocco)
30 Dec 2025: Uganda 1-3 Nigeria (AFCON: Fès, Morocco)
05 Jan 2026: Nigeria 4-0 Mozambique (AFCON: Fès, Morocco)
10 Jan 2026: Algeria 0-2 Nigeria (AFCON: Marrakech, Morocco)
