Zambia will this evening come up against the toughest opponents they have ever faced in the group stages of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers so far.

Having succumbed to a 1-2 home defeat in Ndola, Wedson Nyirenda’s redemption could lie in a very physical and experienced Super Eagles team who will leave nothing to chance as they look to seal Qualification to the World Cup.

Head to Head statistics show that Nigeria have an edge over the Zambians. The two teams have met 19 times. Nigeria winning 8 times, Zambia 5 times with 6 matches drawn.

A total of 37 goals have been scored with an average of 2.1 goals scored per game.

The Chipolopolo have 21 goals with Nigeria having scored 16.

Nigeria have collected 30 points while Zambia have collected 21 points.

The last five meetings has seen 4 draws and 1 win for Nigeria with a paltry 7 goals scored in total.

From the stats above it puts Nigeria in a comfortable position knowing that even a draw would suffice.

For the Chipolopolo, the odds are stacked against them as they have to win at all cost and win they should by a large margin to reduce the deficit on goal difference.

They come up against an intimidating home crowd in the 30,000 capacity Godswill Akpabio International stadium in Uyo.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

?15 July 1973: Zambia 5 Nigeria 1 – Lusaka (AFCON Qualifier)

?29 July 1973: Nigeria 3 Zambia 2 – Lagos (AFCON Qualifier)

?14 Feb 1976: Zambia 1 Nigeria 3 – Lusaka (Friendly)

?10 Mar 1978: Zambia 0 Nigeria 0 – Accra (AFCON)

?25 July 1981: Zambia 3 Nigeria 0 – Lusaka (Friendly)

?13 Mar 1982: Zambia 3 Nigeria 0 – Benghazi (AFCON)

?10 Aug 1985: Nigeria 0 Zambia 0 – Lagos (AFCON Qualifier)

?18 Aug 1985: Zambia 1 Nigeria 0 – Lusaka (AFCON Qualifier)

?12 Mar 1990: Zambia 0 Nigeria 2 – Annaba (AFCON S-F)

?10 Apr 1994: Zambia 1 Nigeria 2 – Tunis (AFCON Final)

?15 Dec 1997: Zambia 2 Nigeria 0 – Lusaka (Friendly)

?18 Dec 1997: Zambia 0 Nigeria 0 – Kitwe (Friendly)

?13 Jan 2001: Nigeria 1 Zambia 0 – Lagos (AFCON Qualifier)

?24 Mar 2001: Zambia 1 Nigeria 1 – Chingola (AFCON)

?6 Jan 2010: Zambia 0 Nigeria 0 – Durban (Friendly)

?25 Jan 2010: Zambia 0 Nigeria 0 (4-5 penalties) –

?25 Jan 2013: Nigeria 1 Zambia 1 – Nelspruit (AFCON)

?9 Oct 2016: Zambia 1 Nigeria 2 – Ndola (World Cup Qualifier)

Kelvin Trudeau Musako

Football Journalist | TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 Photographer | Media Officer - Kabwe Warriors FC | Graphic Designer | Videographer