Ghana held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in the Nigerian capital on Tuesday, winning the tie on away goals to become the first African country to book a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
But angry reactions from the home fans in and around the stadium blighted the “Jollof derby”, with a pitch invasion, fighting and other disturbances taking place.
Most of the vociferous crowd in Abuja had expected Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup after the first leg of their playoff ended 0-0 in Ghana on Friday.
But goalkeeper Francis Uzoho’s error allowed Thomas Partey to open the scoring for Ghana early in the second leg. William Troost-Ekong levelled from the penalty spot, but Nigeria missed several clear chances to win the match at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
There had been signs of trouble before the match as crushes had built up outside the 60,000-capacity stadium barely
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