igeria fans stormed the pitch after their country’s failure to make the 2022 World Cup – tearing down dugouts and clashing with police.
Tear gas was deployed by the authorities at Abuja National Stadium on Tuesday night after the final whistle prompted an angry pitch invasion.
Clips uploaded onto social media showed fans rushing out of the stands and pushing over dugouts and advertising boards, before being corralled away by police.
Ghana players were forced to run for cover having begun to celebrate their qualification for the Qatar World Cup, with only a small pocket of visiting fans among the 60,000 in the Nigerian capital’s stadium. There were also claims of those supporters being targeted.
Some 20,000 tickets had been given out for free to encourage a significant home support for the play-off tie.
After a goalless first leg in Ghana, the Joloff Derby was decided by Thomas Partey’s early strike, with help from an error by Super Eagles goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.
William Troost-Ekong’s penalty drew Nigeria level on the night but the Black Stars saw out their away-goal advantage to qualify, having missed out on the World Cup in Russia four years ago.
The failure to qualify was the Super Eagles’ first since 2006.