📸 Nigeria v Gabon: referee’s astonishing play-off decision 😱 | OneFootball

This is going to make waves...

On Thursday evening, Nigeria and Gabon faced off in Morocco for a spot in the final of the playoff tournament for the 2026 World Cup qualification in the Africa zone.

And just as the second half began, the underdog Gabon believed they had secured a decisive penalty.

Indeed, during a corner, central defender Aaron Appindangoye was held by the jersey by a Nigerian defender.

The referee did not blow the whistle initially, but the VAR intervened, and he then had to go and review the replays!

And to everyone's surprise, after reviewing the footage, the central referee stuck to his original decision: no penalty!

A decision likely to cause a scandal, as Gabon was defeated 4-1 after extra time (1-1 at the end of regular time)!

Nigeria will thus face the winner of the match between Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The grand winner of these Africa zone playoffs will then compete in another tournament during the international window in March, consisting of two teams from CONCACAF, one from the AFC, one from CONMEBOL (Bolivia), and one from the OFC (New Caledonia).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 KENZO TRIBOUILLARD