World Cup Qualifier: Ahmed Musa Equals Ighalo’s Scoring Record
- As Nigeria beat Liberia 2 – 0; Cape Verde defeat CAR 2-1
GROUP C STANDINGS
| POS | TEAM | MP | WON | DRAWN | LOST | GF | GA | PTS | |
1 |  | Nigeria | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 12 |
2 |  | Cape Verde | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
3 |  | C.A.R. | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
4 |  | Liberia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
On the night that Super Eagles triumphed 2 – 0 over Lone Stars of Liberia in their Group C 2022 World Cup qualifier, Ahmed Musa entered the record books as the seventh joint-top scorer in Nigeria’s football history with 16 goals.
This is as Cape Verde, recovered from a goal down to defeat visiting Central African Republic (CAR) 2-1. They now play Super Eagles in Lagos to determine who moves to the next round from Group C
For Skipper Ahmed Musa, thanks to his last gasp effort in the encounter, he has now matched Odion Ighalo’s goal-scoring exploits wearing the Nigerian national colours.
Also, the match provided the former Leicester City man with the opportunity to become the Super Eagles’ most capped player in international football when he replaced Kelechi Iheanacho in the 86th minute of the match.
Napoli’s star striker, Victor Osimhen had opened the scores and the victory moves Nigeria within one win away from booking one of the World Cup play-off spots.
Musa’s historic moment came with barely the last kick of the match as he scored from the penalty spot after goalkeeper Boison Wynney de Souza brought down Victor Osimhen in the box.
And that strike saw him equalling the feat attained by Ighalo during Nigeria’s 1-0 victory over Tunisia in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations third-place match staged at the Al Salam Stadium, Cairo. Ighalo currently plies his trade with Al Shabab in Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly, Musa’s effort against Peter Butler’s men brought to an end to his 37-month old goal drought in the Super Eagles’ shirt.
The Turkey-based striker last found the net for Nigeria when Gernot Rohr’s men silenced Libya 3-2 in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification encounter played inside Sfax’s Stade Taieb Mhiri.
The pacy winger made his senior debut on August 5, 2010, in the 2012 AFCON qualification against Madagascar, coming in as a substitute for John Obi Mikel. However, he first found the net for Nigeria as the Super Eagles subdued Rwanda 2-0 in an AFCON qualifier played at the U. J. Esuene Stadium on June 16, 2012.
In the sixth position is Samson Siasia who scored 17 times for Nigeria during a career that spanned 14 years from 1984 to 1998. Former Inter Milan and Newcastle United goal machine, Obafemi Martins is in fifth place with 18 goals for the three-time African kings, while Ikechukwu Uche comes in fourth, accounting for 19 goals during his seven-year international spell.
With 21 goals between 2000-2012, FIFA legend, Yakubu Ayegebeni is the third-highest goal scorer for Nigeria, while Segun Odegbami, who finished third in the 1977 African Player of the Year poll behind Guinea’s Papa Camara and Tunisia’s Tarak Dhiab, occupies the second spot with 22 goals playing for the national team from 1976 to 1981.
The goal king is late Rasheed Yekini, considered as one of the greatest footballers Africa has ever produced. He is Nigeria’s leading scorer ever with 37 goals, a record yet to be unrivaled since 1998.
Meanwhile, the last round of matches in the group will hold on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, with Liberia taking on CAR and Nigeria playing host to Cape Verde.
