How Nigeria fans burnt Black Stars bus after beating Super Eagles in Lagos in 1973

Prior to the incident, the atmosphere was terrific at the 60,000 capacity Abiola national stadium, and the game matched the energy of the crowd with an exciting fixture.

In the end, Ghana came out victorious after earning a 1-1 drawn game that qualified the team for the World Cup in Qatar, having played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg.

Meaning Nigeria after qualifying for the World Cup three times on the bounce failed to book a spot in the upcoming edition in front of a fully packed Abiola Stadium.

The Black Stars could only care less about the Super Eagles disappointing the nation and therefore celebrated the qualification with the few Ghanaian supporters who were present at the stadium.

But it was only a few minutes that the Nigerian fans lost their cool out of frustration.

There was complete pandemonium at the stadium as a number of angry fans besieged the pitch following the teams' failure.

Visuals from the stadium showed a mammoth crowd storming the field with rage. Some were spotted pelting objects while others could be seen running helter-skelter. A section of the field was engulfed with what appeared to be smoke.

In the process, CAF/FIFA medical official, Joseph Kabungo lost his life.

Jubilant Black Stars players had to rush down the tunnel for their safety and fortunately, none of them got hurt.

This is not new to the Black Stars as they faced a similar situation in Lagos in 1973 when Ghana beat Nigeria in a world cup qualifier.

Below is Graphic Sports report on the incident that occurred on Monday, February 12, 1973,

Pandemonium broke out at the Lagos stadium on Saturday soon after the Black Stars had scored their third and winning goal in their World Cup elimination match against Nigeria.

Stones and bottles were thrown onto the pitch in protest as the Black Stars jubilated.

But the jubilation could not be sustained when the spectators surged onto the field.

At this point, the Lagos State Military Governor, Col. Mobolaji Johnson, personally led a team of armed personnel to protect the Stars.

The troops escorted the Stars off the pitch.

A rough deal was, therefore, unleashed on the Ghanaian supporters who accompanied the team to Nigeria.

It was during this onslaught that the supporters’ bus was set on fire.

The fire-wrecked van was still smouldering yesterday morning. The Nigerian troops had to use tear gas to disperse the angry crowd.

According to a BBC news bulletin, the game was abandoned soon after the Ghanaians had scored the winning goal.

Nigeria took the lead in the 15th minute through wizard dribbler Yakubu Mambo but Ghana replied three minutes later when Kwasi Owusu scored from a penalty kick.

This was after a Nigerian defender under pressure handled the ball in the box.

In the 40th minute, Nigeria earned a free kick just outside the penalty box.

Confusion arose in the Ghana penalty box after the kick gas was taken, and Yakubu Mambo exploited the situation to put Nigeria back in the lead.

The half-time score stood at 2-1.

Ghana redoubled her efforts on resumption.

Centre forward Kwasi Owusu who hit his former goal-grabbing form, made several breakthroughs but the Nigerian goalkeeper made significant saves.

In the 55th minute, left-winger Malik Jabir, who played a real captain’s game sent an intelligent pass to Kwasi Owusu to score the equalizer for Ghana.

Nigeria, after the equalizer, quickly changed their pattern of play, but the Stars found an antidote to their style and forced them to play a defensive game.

It, therefore, came as no surprise, when Kwasi Owusu scored the match-winner in the 82nd minute in a goalmouth scramble.

The Ghana line-up was Lante France, Enoch Asumadu, Ayi Acquah, Tetteh Gorleku, Dan Oppong, Sam Amarteifio, John Taylor/ Peter Lamptey, Eric Amankwa, Kwasi Owusu, Isaac Eshun, Malik Jabir( capt).

Watch a review of the Ghana vs Nigeria World Cup playoff below