World Cup loss to Ghana cost Nigeria over N4.5b - Report

With 45 days to kick off in Qatar, the pain of missing out on a World Cup ticket is still reverberating among many football-loving fans of Nigeria.

The Super Eagles' bid for a seventh World Cup appearance hit a snag as the three-time African champions lost the ticket to their bitterest rivals Ghana during the playoffs.

Nigeria, who were tipped as favourites against their West African counterparts played a goalless draw with the Black Stars of Ghana in Kumasi in the first leg.

The Super Eagles had it all to do in the second leg but failed to capitalise on home advantage as the Black Stars secured a vital away goal to snatch the World Cup ticket from the 2013 AFCON winners.

An early strike from Arsenal's Thomas Partey was cancelled out by Troost-Ekong's spot kick but it wasn't enough to book a place in Qatar for Augustine Eguaveon's side.

This resulted in disappointed fans invading the pitch to cause mayhem.

Now, how is Nigeria's absence from Qatar going to affect the country financially?

All the 32 participating countries are entitled to a sum of $1.5m which is equivalent to N648m as an appearance fee. This amount is bound to increase once the country progresses through the knockout phase.

Countries that will bow out of the tournament in the group stage will receive $9m which is equivalent to N3.8bn.

Teams that will make it to the first knockout stage (round 16) are also entitled to $13m.

Supposedly, if the Super Eagles had qualified for the Mundial and even exited at the first stage, Nigeria would have pocketed $1.5m plus $13m which is equivalent to N4.5m.

This handsome monetary package would have gone a long way to help develop Nigerian football development in the area of developing grassroots football, and settling debts owed to players and officiating officials among many others.

The 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup will kick off on November 20.

WDN