How Uganda Cranes performed against Niger in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

Uganda Cranes will not have any room for error on Thursday night when they face Niger in a must-win final qualifier of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Sitting third with only four points, the Cranes must beat Niger at all costs and pray that Algeria do them some favour by doing the same to Tanzania in Algiers.

The West Africans are not a new opponent to the Cranes, who have met them at least six times in qualifiers and eight overall.

We look at the previous encounters;

2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier

October 8th, 2006 - Niger 0-0 Uganda

September 8th, 2007 - Uganda 3-1 Niger

Uganda’s first encounter against the Nigerians came in the group stage of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Uganda Cranes managed to hold the West Africans to a goalless draw at the Général Seyni Kountché Stadium in Niamey on match day two.

The Cranes finished the home tie on the final day of qualifying in style, winning 3-1 courtesy of a Denis Obua hattrick, but the result was not enough to push the team through.

Seydou Idrissa’s consolation goal ended up hurting the Cranes as they lost out on a place in the best runners-up slots by a goal margin.

The team had tied on 11 points with South Africa, who finished second in Group 11 but had an inferior goal difference of +5 to the latter’s +6!

Nigeria topped Uganda’s group with 15 points after winning five and losing once. Their only loss was against the Cranes at Namboole.

2010 Africa Cup of Nations/World Cup qualifier

May 31st, 2008 - Uganda 1-0 Niger

September 7th, 2008  Niger 3-1 Uganda

Niger had slowly become Uganda Cranes’ Achilles’ heel in the qualifiers after being drawn together in the preceding 2010 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Captain Ibrahim Sekagya’s solitary goal gave the Cranes a 1-0 advantage and an opening win to the qualifiers at Namboole, but again, the team ended up in another disappointing campaign.

The Cranes managed to pick up all nine points from their home games at their fortress in Namboole, but the away form soiled their efforts.

A draw against Angola away on match day four put them in pole position to, at least, grab the second best-runners-up slot, but a 3-1 loss away to Niger in Niamey complicated the calculations.

Obua scored the consolation goal, but Uganda ended up with a -3 goal difference that ranked them behind Angola, who had +1; both teams tied on ten points at the end of the campaign.

Angola lost the alternative slot because of a poor count against the rest of the second-placed teams.

International Friendlies

September 2nd, 2014 - Niger 2-0 Uganda

June 2nd, 2018 - Niger 2-1 Uganda

Uganda Cranes lost the two international friendly matches to Niger in September 2014 and June 2018, 2-0 and 2-1, respectively.

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier

June 8th, 2022 - Uganda 1-1 Niger

September 7th, 2023 - Niger v Uganda, 10 PM, Marrakech

The first encounter between Uganda and Niger in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier ended 1-all at Kitende.

Milton Karisa had given the Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic-coached side the lead in the 43rd minute, but Amadou Sabo broke Ugandans' hearts with a late equaliser.

Niger has only managed a point against Tanzania while playing as the host.