Slim Chance of Super Eagles' Players Setting new Nigerian Records at the AFCON

In this blog piece I have collated Nigeria's records at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). What is clear is that some of those records would have been more impressive if maximum dictator Sani Abacha had not withdrawn the team from the 1996 tournament and also caused Nigeria's absence in 1998 due to suspension. But also the team's failure to qualify for the 2012, 2015, and 2017 tournaments cost players like Vincent Enyeama and Mikel Obi some individual records as well. 

Nonetheless, with the 2019 AFCON at hand, it has become clear that few or perhaps none of Nigeria's records presented in the table below are under any serious threat. The records are categorized under team and individual.

Team Records
The 1980 tournament, which was the first AFCON won by Nigeria, remains the most efficient with four wins and just one tie leading to an efficiency of 0.867. It is unmatched by any tournament performance before or after. The wins of 2013 and 1994, in comparison, produced efficiencies of 0.778 and 0.733 respectively.

Nigeria's group at the upcoming tournament is one of the weakest and on paper Nigeria is expected to trample on its opponents and possibly run results that could challenge Nigeria's records at the tournament. However, this belief must be treated with caution because Nigeria has not demonstrated a habit of trampling poorly ranked teams. Thus, it is quite unlikely that any of those records listed under team records will be overturned at the 2019 AFCON.

Individual Records
The failure to qualify for the 2015 and 2017 AFCONs means that most players in Nigeria's squad will be appearing at the AFCON for the first time ever. The only squad players who have experienced AFCON are skipper Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa, and Kenneth Omeruo. Of those three, only Mikel has approached any where close to outstripping any of the current individual records. Importantly, he holds two of the listed records, both in total assists at the AFCONs and assists in a single AFCON tournament. However, he possibly could also approach an infamous record of cautions if he receives two cautions in Egypt.

There are still some records that new players can erase. For instance, the most goals scored by a Nigerian player in a game is a brace on multiple occasions. Most assists in a game is just two from Nwankwo Kanu back in 2006 when we began to track assists. Most goals in a tournament by an individual is five accomplished by Rashidi Yekini in 1994. Those are the more likely individual records that could be erased.


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