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Eagles seek end to poor friendly run

Nigeria is aiming to break their 15-match winless streak in friendly matches when they face Mozambique at the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira on Monday. Both teams have already secured their spots in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and are now preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

This meeting marks the first encounter between the two nations since January 2014 when the Super Eagles triumphed with a 4-2 victory in the Africa Cup of Nations.

In their last six friendly matches, there is little to differentiate between both sides, with Nigeria losing five and drawing one, while Mozambique recorded three defeats and three wins. Nigeria recently played a 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia’s Green Falcons in their first game of the international break, while Mozambique had a 1-1 draw against Angola at the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira.

The Super Eagles have now gone 15 consecutive friendly matches without a win, with nine losses and six draws since their last victory, a 1-0 win over Egypt in March 2019. Before the draw against the Green Falcons, Nigeria had won three consecutive games in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, finishing at the top of Group A with 15 points from six matches.

On the other hand, Mozambique enters the game with a strong record, being unbeaten in six of their last seven matches across all competitions, including three wins and three draws. The only exception was a 1-0 defeat against Lesotho in the COSAFA Cup on July 10.

Their previous three encounters with Nigeria have all ended in favor of the Super Eagles, with Nigeria winning each game, scoring eight goals and keeping two clean sheets since a goalless draw in March 2009.

In the first encounter in Maputo, Mozambique’s ‘Tico Tico’ Bucuane was a difficult opponent for Nigeria, and it ended in a scoreless draw. In October 2009 at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria managed to secure a 1-0 win with a goal from Obinna Nsofor, avoiding elimination from the FIFA World Cup race. A few months later at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, Nigeria defeated the Mambas 3-0 in Lubango to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament.

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