Nigeria head coach Éric Chelle has accused the Congo DR aspect of “voodoo” throughout the penalty shootout that noticed the finish of his aspect’s probabilities of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Frank Onyeka put Nigeria forward of their essential qualifier earlier than Meschack Elia‘s equaliser took the sport to a penalty shootout the place DR Congo got here out 4-3 winners and saved their very own World Cup desires alive.
After the outcome, Chelle made an uncommon accusation when speaking concerning the shootout that confirmed that Nigeria will miss a second World Cup in a row.
“Throughout all of the penalty determination the man of Congo did some Voodoo. Each time … Each time. So because of this I used to be a bit nervous after him,” Chelle instructed reporters.
When requested what he noticed, Chelle waved his proper arm however could not verify the specifics of his declare.
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“One thing like that [waving his arm]. with I do not know if it is water or one thing like that you realize,” he stated.
The defeat, which got here in opposition to a aspect ranked 19 locations beneath them, condemned Nigeria to a 3rd missed World Cup since 2006.
Nigeria’s soccer federation put out a press release within the aftermath of the loss, apologising to their followers and the president of the nation,
“The Nigeria Soccer Federation needs to overtly and sincerely apologise to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu [GCFR], to the Federal Authorities as a complete; and to tens of millions of Nigerians, most particularly our passionate, loyal soccer followers, following the Tremendous Eagles failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals,” they wrote on X.
“Sunday’s loss to DR Congo within the Africa Play-off Ultimate in Rabat stays a second of profound unhappiness for Nigerian soccer. For a nation the place the Tremendous Eagles function an emblem of unity, hope, and collective delight, lacking out on the World Cup for a second consecutive time is a disappointment of nice weight and emotional depth.
“The NFF, the technical crew, and the gamers perceive the gravity of this second. We perceive the expectations Nigerians rightly maintain.
“We perceive the fervour and sacrifice of a rustic that has all the time stood firmly behind its group, by way of triumphs and trials. And we recognise that our collective effort didn’t ship the end result this nation deserved.”
