The rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria on a sporting level will be revisited this month, as both teams seek to secure a place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The West African countries have served some thrilling encounters over the past years and the two legs for this year’s qualifiers could even be more intense.

The first of these games will be played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on 25th March 2022 before the return encounter comes off four days later in Nigeria.

For the Black Stars, especially, they will be looking to redeem their image after a disappointing tournament in Cameroon earlier this year.

They will, however, have to do it without three of their key players.

Which players will be unavailable for the Black Stars?

Below are the three key players who will be unavailable for the Black Stars when they play Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers.

1. Andre Ayew

The Black Stars skipper is perhaps the most prominent on the list of absentees for the Ghana national team when they play Nigeria in the qualifiers.

Andre Ayew was handed a red card in Ghana’s last game in the 2021 AFCON against Comoros, making him ineligible to play in the country’s next two competitive games.

The game against Nigeria in Ghana will be the first of the two before he completes the ban when Ghana play in Nigeria days later.

But despite the ban, he is expected to be in the country to cheer his colleagues on as they seek to secure a slot at the World Cup.

2. Benjamin Tetteh 

Like his skipper, Benjamin Tetteh is unavailable for the clash as he is serving a three match ban.

The Yeni Malatyaspor player was shown a retrospective red card by Algerian official Lahlou Benbraham for swinging a punch at a Gabon player during the second game of the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

3. Kamaldeen Sulemana 

Sulemana is also unavailable for the game after sustaining an injury last month at club level.

The player has been in lightning form this season but picked up a back injury just days after returning from the African Cup of Nations in which the Black Stars were eliminated from the group stages.