SUPER Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has claimed that the Democratic Republic of Congo employed diabolical means to knock his side out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup play-offs.
The three-time African champions lost 4-3 on penalties to DR Congo in the final of the CAF play-offs after extra-time ended 1-1 last night in Rabat, Morocco, and were eliminated from the qualifying race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Chelle was seen agitated during and immediately after the shootout, confronting DR Congo personnel and needing to be restrained by several people, including one of his assistants Daniel Ogunmodede.
“During the penalty session, one of the DR Congo guys was doing some voodoo,” Chelle told ESPN Africa when asked why he was clashing with the DR Congo staff.
“He did it every time and this is why I was a little bit nervous after him.”
When pressed on what he saw exactly, Chelle explained: “He was doing like this (waves his hand in the air demonstrating the motion of sprinkling something) I don’t know with water or something like that.”
The Super Eagles took the lead during the match in the third minute through Frank Onyeka, but DR Congo equalised 21 minutes later and took almost total control of the game.
Chelle’s side, without the injured Victor Osimhen from the start of the second half, put up one of their worst displays in recent memory, lacking cohesion, confidence and composure, and constantly giving the ball away.
The Super Eagles created virtually nothing since DR Congo’s equaliser and were lucky to take the game to extra-time and penalties, with the dominant Leopards having the ball in the net twice (both ‘goals’ did not stand because of fouls in the build-up).
During the shootout, despite goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali’s best efforts — he saved two kicks — the Super Eagles fell as Calvin Bassey, Simon Moses and Semi Ajayi all failed to convert.
This is the first time since their first appearance in the World Cup in 1994 that the Super Eagles will fail to qualify twice in a row, having also missed out on the 2022 edition in Qatar.
DR Congo will represent Africa in the six-team intercontinental play-offs in Mexico next March, from where two teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.