Nigeria’s reignited hopes of reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup were brutally extinguished over the weekend.
Despite making a dismal start to qualifying, the Super Eagles staged a late recovery under Eric Chelle and dramatically snatched a playoff stop with a 4-0 win over Benin on the final matchday in CAF Group C.
That placed Nigeria in the four-team playoff for a place in March’s intercontinental qualifier and they got past Gabon with a 4-1 extra-time win.
However, Sunday’s final against DR Congo ended in a penalty shootout defeat following a 1-1 draw, where Frank Onyeka gave Nigeria an early lead but struggled after losing star striker Victor Osimhen to injury.
It amounts to a humiliation for a football-mad nation with a talented squad to be missing out on the expanded 48-team World Cup and Chelle could end up paying with his job despite overseeing an improvement since his appointment in January.
MORE: Nigeria vs. DR Congo score: World Cup qualifying result, stats as Super Eagles fall on penalties in CAF playoff final
Eric Chelle alleges ‘voodoo’ from DR Congo staff in Nigeria World Cup loss
After Chancel Mbemba scored the winning spot-kick, Chelle confronted members of the DR Congo backroom team and had to be removed from the fracas by his own coaching staff.
Answering a question about the flashpoint at his post-match news conference in French, the Malian tactician said: “DR Congo guys were doing maraboutage.”
Maraboutage derives from the word “marabout” — traditionally a Muslim holy man, which has connotations of witchcraft or voodoo in a western context.
Speaking in the mixed zone in English later, Chelle doubled down.
“During all the penalties, the guys from Congo did some voodoo every time,” he said. “This is why I was a little nervous after him.”
Nigeria World Cup qualification results
| Date | Competition | Match |
| September 7, 2024 | AFCON Qualifying | Nigeria 3-0 Benin |
| September 10, 2024 | AFCON Qualifying | Rwanda 0-0 Nigeria |
| October 6, 2024 | AFCON Qualifying | Nigeria 1-0 Libya |
| October 14, 2024 | AFCON Qualifying | Libya 0-3 Nigeria* |
| November 10, 2024 | AFCON Qualifying | Benin 1-1 Nigeria |
| November 18, 2024 | AFCON Qualifying | Nigeria 1-2 Rwanda |
| March 21, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying | Rwanda 0-2 Nigeria |
| March 25, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying | Nigeria 1-1 Zimbabwe |
| June 6, 2025 | Friendly | Russia 1-1 Nigeria |
| September 6, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying | Nigeria 1-0 Rwanda |
| September 9, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying | South Africa 1-1 Nigeria |
| October 10, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying | Lesotho 1-2 Nigeria |
| October 14, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying | Nigeria 4-0 Benin |
| November 13, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying (playoffs) | Nigeria 4-1 Gabon (AET) |
| November 16, 2025 | World Cup Qualifying (playoffs) | Nigeria 1-1 DR Congo (AET) DR Congo won 4-3 on pens |
*Result forfeited in Nigeria’s favour as part of disciplinary action against Libya
How many African teams will qualify for 2026 World Cup?
Nine African teams are guaranteed a spot at the 2026 World Cup, with the possibility of a 10th taking part.
Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Senegal all went through automatically as winners of the nine CAF qualification groups.
DR Congo have progressed through the African playoff and will now contest March’s intercontinental playoff in North America, where the final two qualifiers will be decided.
One representative from each confederation, except for UEFA and with two from CONCACAF as the host federation, will contest the six-team playoff.
The two highest-ranked teams according to FIFA’s world rankings will be seeded for the playoff. The seeded teams will face the winners of two semifinals featuring the four unseeded teams for a place at the tournament.
