Rangers trio miss finals as Nigeria lose out to Ghana
Rangers players Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun will not be playing at the World Cup later this year after Nigeria were knocked out at the final play-off phase by Ghana.
The fierce rivalry between the duo – the match is known as the Jollof derby due to the rice dish the two neighbours produce – was on a knife edge after a goalless in Accra.
Nigeria were the favourites to progress at as old out mko stadium in Abuja, but the Super Eagles found it hard to break down the Black Stars.
Bassey was handed his first start for his country in defence alongside his Ibrox club-mate Balogun, while Aribo was deployed as a No 10 in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
However, it was the Ghanaians who opened the scoring first, Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey netting after just ten minutes. Nigeria responded strongly and were awarded a penalty on 22 minutes, which was converted by William Troost-ekong.
Despite piling on pressure for much of the second half, Nigeria fell short and it is Ghana who will be at the finals in Qatar by virtue of away goals after the 1-1 draw.
Ghana were joined at the finals by Africa Cup of Nations winners Senegal when they defeated Egypt on penalty kicks in a rerun of the afc on final in dakar.
Following Egypt's 1-0 win at home in the first leg, Senegal levelled with Boulaye Dia's third-minute effort and it was to be the only goal, forcing penalties. Mo Salah was among the Egyptians to miss as Senegal repeated their shootout win in the AFCON final, with Salah's Liverpool team-mate Sadio Ma ne again scoring the winning spot-kick.