The Ghanaians pulled off a surprise 2-1 victory over group leaders Liberia in Paynesville in July.
That result meant the Super Eagles would claim the one, and only, qualifying slot in CAF Group B, but only if they beat Ghana on 29 July.
Despite the agonising wait, the celebrations began in earnest when the final whistle was blown in Port Harcourt - a 3-0 victory with two goals from Tijani Babangida and one from Victor Agali.
However, controversy soon followed when Liberia, who missed out on qualification by a single point, accused the Nigerians of offering a $25,000 "bribe" to the Ghanaian team.
A Fifa disciplinary panel cleared both Nigeria and Ghana of any wrongdoing in November 2001 - much to the relief of the Nigerian authorities.
But it should have been so different for Nigeria, who impressed many with their accomplished performances at the 1994 and 1998 World Cup finals.
A 2-1 defeat in Monrovia to George Weah's Liberia in July 2000 was not the ideal way for manager Amodu Shaibu to begin his World Cup preparations.
But, eight months later, worse was to follow when his side were on the receiving end of a shock 1-0 defeat to unfancied Sierra Leone in Freetown.