Nigeria

=== Sports ===
{{Main|Sports in Nigeria}}
[[File:NIG-ARG_(2).jpg|thumb|[[Nigeria national football team|Nigeria]] at the [[2018 FIFA World Cup]]]]

[[Association football|Football]] is largely considered Nigeria's national sport, and the country has its own [[Nigeria Professional Football League|Premier League]] of football. [[Nigeria national football team|Nigeria's national football team]], known as the "Super Eagles", has played in the [[FIFA World Cup]] on six occasions ([[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994]], [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998]], [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002]], [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010]], [[2014 FIFA World Cup|2014]], and [[2018 FIFA World Cup|2018]]). In April 1994, the Super Eagles ranked fifth in the [[FIFA World Rankings]], the highest-ranking achieved by an African team. They won the [[Africa Cup of Nations]] in [[1980 African Cup of Nations|1980]], [[1994 African Cup of Nations|1994]], and [[2013 Africa Cup of Nations|2013]], and have also hosted both the U17 and U20 FIFA World Cup. They won the gold medal for football in the [[1996 Summer Olympics]] (in which they beat Argentina) becoming the first African football team to win gold in Olympic football.

Nigeria is also involved in other sports such as basketball, cricket and track and field.<ref>{{cite web|year=2011|title=Nigerian Basketball|url=http://www.africabasket.com/Nigeria/basketball.asp|access-date=7 June 2011|publisher=Africabasket.com|archive-date=26 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826193254/http://www.africabasket.com/Nigeria/basketball.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Nigeria men's national basketball team|Nigeria's national basketball team]] made the headlines internationally when it became the first African team to beat the [[United States men's national basketball team|United States men's national team]].<ref>{{cite magazine|first1=Nick |last1=Selbe |title= Nigeria Upsets Team USA in Pre-Olympics Exhibition|url=https://www.si.com/olympics/2021/07/11/team-usa-upset-nigeria-tokyo-games-mens-basketball-exhibition-olympics|accessdate=28 August 2021 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |date=10 July 2021}}</ref> In earlier years, Nigeria qualified for the [[Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Summer Olympics]] as it beat heavily favoured world elite teams such as [[Greece men's national basketball team|Greece]] and [[Lithuania men's national basketball team|Lithuania]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120710072346/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/52642/arti.html OQTM – Nigeria celebrates 'greatest' victory], fiba.com, accessed 16 December 2012.</ref> Nigeria has been home to numerous internationally recognised basketball players in the world's top leagues in America, Europe and Asia. These players include [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame|Basketball Hall of Famer]] [[Hakeem Olajuwon]], and later players in the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]. The [[Nigerian Premier League (basketball)|Nigerian Premier League]] has become one of the biggest and most-watched basketball competitions in Africa. The games have aired on ''Kwese TV'' and have averaged a viewership of over a million people.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lee |last=Nxumalo |title=Basketball's next frontier is Africa |url=https://www.newframe.com/basketballs-next-frontier-is-africa/ |work=New Frame |date=20 December 2020 |access-date=11 January 2021 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116062357/https://www.newframe.com/basketballs-next-frontier-is-africa/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Nigeria made history by qualifying the first [[bobsled]] team for the [[Winter Olympics]] from Africa when their women's two-person team qualified for [[Bobsleigh at the 2018 Winter Olympics|the bobsled competition at the XXIII Olympic Winter Games]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Udoh |first=Colin |title=Nigeria bobsled women qualify for Winter Olympics |url=http://www.espn.co.uk/espn/story/_/id/21430137/nigeria-bobsled-women-qualify-winter-olympics |publisher=ESPN |date=17 November 2017 |access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref> In the early 1990s, [[Scrabble]] was made an official sport in Nigeria; by the end of 2017, there were around 4,000 players in more than 100 clubs in the country.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Nigeria produces Scrabble champions |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2017/11/30/why-nigeria-produces-scrabble-champions?zid=319&ah=17af09b0281b01505c226b1e574f5cc1 |newspaper=The Economist |date=30 November 2017 |access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref> In 2018, the Nigerian Curling Federation was established to introduce a new sport to the country with the hope of getting the game to be a part of the curriculum at the elementary, high school, and university levels respectively. At the [[2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship]] in Norway, Nigeria won their first international match beating France 8–5.<ref>{{cite web |title=First African curling facility begins development in Nigeria |url=https://worldcurling.org/2020/06/nigeria-rink/ |publisher=[[World Curling Federation]] |date=18 June 2020 |access-date=1 May 2021 |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607182418/https://worldcurling.org/2020/06/nigeria-rink/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Nigeria's women's and men's national teams in [[beach volleyball]] competed at the [[2018–2020 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Continental Cup Finals start in Africa |url=https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/continental-cup-finals-start-in-africa?id=94414 |publisher=[[FIVB]] |date=22 June 2021 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref> The country's U21 national teams qualified for the 2019 [[FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships]].<ref>{{cite news |title= Beach Volleyball: Team Nigeria lands in Cape Verde|url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/beach-volleyball-team-nigeria-lands-in-cape-verde/ |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=[[The Sun (Nigeria)]] |date=25 February 2019}}</ref>

Nigeria is the birthplace of the sport [[loofball]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About Loofball |url=https://www.topendsports.com/sport/new/loofball.htm |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=topendsports.com}}</ref>