How many times have the Super Eagles broken Ghana's hearts during World Cup qualifiers?

A deep-rooted West African rivalry gets reignited as Nigeria meets Ghana in the final qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The two-legged affair expected to be played in the cities of Kumasi and Abuja will see the Black Stars and the Super Eagles vie for one of five tickets to the World Cup in Qatar.

Historically, it will be the fifth time both Nigeria and Ghana are being pitted against each other in this situation - where one has to prevent the other from participating in the World Cup.

Save for one occasion, the winner of the first leg of a World Cup qualifying contest between Nigeria and Ghana has always won the tie on aggregate.

On this trip down memory lane, who between Africa's most populous nation and four-time African Cup of Nation winners Ghana came out victorious ahead of 1962, 1970, 1974 and the 2002 World Cups?

Between 21 August 1960 and 16 December 1961, a total of 49 teams played at least one qualifying match ahead of the Chile-hosted World Cup. Nigeria and Ghana, both newly independent, were two of the teams competing for the first time.

Both countries were drawn into the same group (three groups of two teams each). The Black Stars came off 4-1 winners in the first leg in Accra before holding the Super Eagles to a draw 12 days later in Lagos.

Ghana proceeded to play Morocco in the final round, losing out on aggregate as Morocco advanced to the UEFA/CAF intercontinental play-off.

Nigeria was pitted against Ghana after defeating Cameroon in the first round of the qualification series. 

The tie saw Nigeria win 2-1 in the first leg at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, before drawing 1-1 in Accra. Despite proceeding to the final round, Nigeria fell short behind Morocco, who became Africa's first representative at the World Cup, but finished ahead of Sudan. 

Ahead of the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, both nations were again drawn to play themselves in the second round of the African qualifiers.

After the first leg in Lagos was abandoned in the 85th minute due to riots, FIFA subsequently awarded a 2–0 win to Ghana. Ghana then defended the lead in Accra, with the second leg ending in a goalless draw. They, however, were dumped out in the third round by Zaire.

The next time both teams met en route to a World Cup was nearly 30 years later - ahead of the first Asian-hosted Mundial.

This time, Nigeria and Ghana were placed in the same group as Liberia, Sudan, and Sierra Leone. It was the final round of qualifying, and only the group winner would go to the World Cup.

After a round of eight games - including a 0-0 draw in Accra and a 3-0 win over Ghana in the second leg in Port Harcourt - Nigeria finished top of Group B, qualifying for the World Cup.