The Nigerian national football team has lodged an official complaint with FIFA, claiming the illegality of the participation of players from the DR Congo national team in the decisive match of the African playoff for the 2026 World Cup. In November, the teams met in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw, and after a penalty shootout, the players from Congo celebrated victory with a score of 4-3.
The main argument of the Nigerian side is that some players of the Congo national team hold dual citizenship and failed to complete the legal procedure of renouncing their European passports before obtaining Congolese ones. According to representatives of Nigeria, this violates the constitution of the DR Congo and leads to the illegitimate participation of these footballers in the match. The head of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mohammed Sanusi, stated that FIFA allows players to participate based on national passports, disregarding the internal laws of the country.
“FIFA has been misled, as the organization approves player participation based on the presence of national passports without verifying whether their issuance complies with the internal laws of the country.”
It should be noted that previously a similar complaint was made to FIFA by the Cameroon national team. While the investigation is ongoing, the Congo national team is preparing for the intercontinental playoff, where they will meet the winner of the match between New Caledonia and Jamaica. For Nigeria, this has become the last opportunity to avoid missing the World Cup after they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“Throughout the entire penalty shootout, a person from the DR Congo staff was performing a voodoo ritual. He did this all the time. That’s why I was a bit nervous about him. He acted like that. I don’t know if it’s water or something else. We lost, and now we have to think about other tournaments.”
The head coach of the Nigerian national team, Erik Shell, reported that his team’s defeat to Congo in the penalty shootout can be explained by witchcraft from the opponents. Meanwhile, Nigeria continues the fight for its right to participate in the 2026 World Cup.