Nigeria and Ghana suffer heavy defeats in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying

Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations suffered a major setback as they were beaten 3-0 by Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday.

The hosts took control in the 15th minute when Franculino opened the scoring. Mama Balde doubled Guinea-Bissau’s advantage in the 66th minute before Alvaro Djalo completed the victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Guinea-Bissau moved top of the group with six points from their opening two matches. Nigeria remain second on three points, while Tanzania and Madagascar have one point each.

The result leaves Nigeria facing an uphill task in their bid to qualify for the tournament, with Guinea-Bissau establishing an early lead in the group.

Gambia also claimed a convincing away win, beating Ghana 4-2 in another match in the same qualifying campaign.

Ghana took the lead through Ernest Nuamah, who converted a penalty in the 27th minute. Felix Afena-Gyan then made it 2-0 six minutes later.

However, Gambia turned the match around before half-time. Mohammed Badamosi scored from the penalty spot in the 37th minute and Omar Colley equalised five minutes later.

Ebrima Colley put Gambia ahead in the 68th minute, then added his second goal in the first minute of stoppage time to complete the scoring.

Gambia now lead their group with six points. Cote d’Ivoire are second on three points, while Somalia and Ghana have yet to register a point.