Nigeria’s Super Eagles will tackle the Palancas Negras of Angola in the first quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Friday at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium.
The Super Eagles booked their place in the quarter-finals of the AFCON on the back of a great run of form, recording just one draw in four games. Despite not scoring many goals, the Super Eagles have been rock solid at the back, conceding just one goal in the tournament.
Angola qualified for the knockouts as winners of Group D in which Algeria were a shock elimination, finishing bottom. Angola have scored nine goals so far at the AFCON and could be a threat to three-time AFCON Champions.
The Super Eagles defeated old rivals Cameroon in the round of 16 while the Palancas Negras eliminated Namibia to make history by recording a first victory in the tournament’s knockout stage.
According to Opta, the Super Eagles are favourites to win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations following the exit of many of the continent’s big names.
Nigeria are the highest-ranked side left in the competition following the exit of Morocco (13th), reigning champions Senegal (20th), Tunisia (28th), Algeria (30th) and Egypt (33rd), according to FIFA rankings
Angola are the lowest-ranked team (117th) left at AFCON 2023 and will be out to cause one of the biggest shocks in recent memory at the tournament.
After a decent point to open AFCON 2023 against Algeria (1-1), Angola have now built up a three-game winning run at the tournament with victories over Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Namibia, but this tie with Nigeria is by far their biggest test yet.
Here, BusinessDay takes a breakdown of the stats between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Angola as both teams lock horns for a place in the semi-finals
Head-To-Head Stats
This will be the first-ever encounter between Nigeria and Angola at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria and Angola last met in January 2018 at the African Nations Championship – with the Super Eagles winning 2-1 after extra time in the quarter-final.
Angola’s last victory against Nigeria was a World Cup qualifier in June 2004, which ended 1-0.
Nigeria are playing in their 11th AFCON quarter-final match, no team has ever played in more games at this stage of the competition except for Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tunisia also 11.
Nigeria have won their last three AFCON games without conceding, but never won four consecutive matches in a single edition without conceding a goal.
Angola have won their last three matches at the AFCON.
Angola have won their last two AFCON matches without conceding, but never kept three consecutive clean sheets in the competition.
Source: Opta
