Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations

Nigeria have appeared in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on twenty occasions. Nigeria has won the cup three times: the first time was in 1980 ^{[1] [2]} and they won a second title in the 1994, ^{[3] [4]} held in Tunisia.

Nigeria won their third African title in 2013, ^{[5] [6] [7]} held in South Africa.

Overall record

Africa Cup of Nations record											Africa Cup of Nations qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1957	Not affiliated to CAF										Not affiliated to CAF
1959
1962	Withdrew										4	1	2	1	4	5
1963	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	3	10	Squad		2	0	1	1	2	3
1965	Withdrew										Withdrew
1968	Did not qualify										4	1	1	2	4	5
1970	Withdrew										Withdrew
1972	Did not qualify										2	0	1	1	1	2
1974											4	2	1	1	7	9
1976	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	11	10	Squad		2	2	0	0	3	1
1978	Third place	3rd	5	2	2	1	8	5	Squad		4	2	1	1	7	4
1980	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	8	1	Squad		Qualified as hosts
1982	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	4	5	Squad		Qualified as holders
1984	Runners-up	2nd	5	1	3	1	7	8	Squad		4	1	2	1	2	1
1986	Did not qualify										2	0	1	1	0	1
1988	Runners-up	2nd	5	1	3	1	5	3	Squad		4	2	1	1	6	3
1990	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	0	2	5	6	Squad		4	2	2	0	8	2
1992	Third place	3rd	5	4	0	1	8	5	Squad		8	4	3	1	15	3
1994	Champions	1st	5	3	2	0	9	3	Squad		6	3	2	1	12	1
1996	Withdrew										Qualified as holders
1998	Banned										Banned
2000	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	2	0	12	5	Squad		Qualified as hosts
2002	Third place	3rd	6	3	2	1	4	2	Squad		6	4	2	0	9	1
2004	Third place	3rd	6	4	1	1	11	5	Squad		4	2	2	0	7	3
2006	Third place	3rd	6	4	1	1	7	3	Squad		10	6	3	1	21	7
2008	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	1	2	3	3	Squad		6	5	0	1	10	3
2010	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	6	4	Squad		12	9	3	0	20	5
2012	Did not qualify										6	3	2	1	12	5
2013	Champions	1st	6	4	2	0	11	4	Squad		4	2	2	0	10	3
2015	Did not qualify										6	2	2	2	9	7
2017											4	1	2	1	2	2
2019	Third place	3rd	7	5	0	2	9	7	Squad		6	4	1	1	14	6
2021	Round of 16	9th	4	3	0	1	6	2	Squad		6	4	2	0	14	7
2023	Runners-up	2nd	7	4	2	1	8	4	Squad		6	5	0	1	22	4
2025	Qualified										6	3	2	1	9	3
2027	To be determined										To be determined
Total	3 Titles	21/35	104	57	24	23	146	95	—		132	70	41	21	230	96

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via a penalty shoot-out.

**Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

References

1. Oluwalowo, ’Tosin (March 21, 2020). "We drank wine, partied till 2am –1980 AFCON heroes recount historic feat".
2. Ezekute, Nnamdi (March 21, 2020). "INTERVIEW: Chukwu Speaks On 1980 AFCON Win 40 Years After; The Joy, Regrets, Family". Complete Sports.
3. Eludini, Tunde (June 17, 2021). "Remembering Nigeria's AFCON 1994 Super Squad". www.premiumtimesng.com.
4. "Watch as Caf relives Nigeria defeat Zambia to win 1994 Africa Cup of Nations | Goal.com". Goal . April 10, 2020.
5. "Nigeria's last AFCON winning team - Who were the players and where are they now? | Goal.com India". www.goal.com. January 5, 2022.
6. "Nigeria are African champions – DW – 02/10/2013". dw.com.
7. "Third African soccer title for Nigeria". CNN. February 10, 2013.