The Super Eagles were denied a World Cup ticket to Qatar on Tuesday following a dull 1-1 draw with Ghana at the MKO Abiola stadium in Abuja.
The first leg game in Kumasi had ended in a stalemate, allowing the Ghanaians to qualify on the basis of away goals.
Thomas Partey, an Arsenal midfielder, had put Ghana ahead early in the first half before Troost Ekong converted a penalty to tie the game minutes later.
The Super Eagles, however, were unable to score the crucial second goal, breaking the hearts of millions of Nigerian football fans.
Ghana’s Black Stars are back in the World Cup finals after qualifying in 2006, 2010, and 2014 but failing to qualify four years ago.
The defeat was a huge setback for Nigeria, who were aiming for their seventh World Cup appearance in eight attempts since their debut in 1994.
Public servants in Abuja were given a half-day off, and free transport from the suburbs was arranged to ensure that a capacity 60,000 crowd cheered on the Super Eagles.
However, the Super Eagles fell behind early on when Partey’s shot from outside the box slipped between goalkeeper Francis Uzoho’s hands and into the net.
It was the latest blunder by a Nigerian goalkeeper, with Maduka Okoye being blamed for the Tunisian goal that knocked his team out of the recent Africa Cup of Nations at the last-16 stage.
Midway through the first half, Troost-Ekong was the calmest person in the cauldron of noise, sending Ghana goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott the wrong way from the penalty spot to equalize.
Soon after, Napoli forward Victor Osimhen had the ball in the net for Nigeria, but it was ruled offside after a VAR review.
Nigeria applied constant pressure in the second half but were unable to break down a Ghana defense led by Leicester City center-back Daniel Amartey.
Ghana entered the two-leg tie as underdogs following a poor showing at the Cup of Nations in January when they were eliminated in the first round by Comoros.
