Nigeria coach blames ‘voodoo’ after World Cup hopes crushed

Nigeria’s football coach has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo of practising “voodoo” after his squad’s hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup ended in a penalty shootout loss in the African play-offs final.

DR Congo and Nigeria drew 1-1 after extra time in the tie in Rabat on Sunday and the central Africans won 4-3 on penalties to book a place in inter-confederation play-offs in Mexico next March.  

In his post-match remarks to journalists, coach Eric Chelle said a member of the DR Congo team “did some voodoo, every time, every time, every time”.  

“That is why I was a bit nervous,” said former Mali international Chelle, who took charge of Nigeria in January.

Chelle had admitted prior to the match that it was going to “be very difficult in Morocco”.

Using hand gestures, he said he saw a DR Congo member waving his hand as if sprinkling or shaking something. “I don’t know if it’s water or something like that.”

In a nervy shootout in which four spot-kicks were saved and another missed, DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba defied a bottle thrown toward him and torrential rain to convert the winning penalty as his country seek a return to the global showpiece after a lengthy absence. 

Nigeria, an African football giant, lie 19 places above DR Congo in the world rankings and were pre-match favourites.

The Super Eagles failed to qualify for the second World Cup in a row. They had not missed back-to-back editions since their debut in 1994.

While Nigeria have been regular participants at the World Cup, the sole appearance by the Congolese came in 1974 when the mineral-rich central African country was called Zaire.

President Bola Tinubu urged the squad to “put behind them the loss” and to focus on preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which runs from December 21 to January 18.

“We must now plug all the loopholes. Our football administrators, players … must go back to the drawing board,” said Tinubu in a statement.