😱 Nigeria out: penalties, brawl 🥶 Osimhen-Lookman miss World Cup 😳 | OneFootball

Nigeria, with Lookman and Osimhen, will not be at the 2026 World Cup: the national team paid for numerous mistakes during these qualifiers and lost on penalties against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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This will be the second consecutive edition that Nigeria will miss, after having qualified for 6 of the previous 7 editions.

Congo, on the other hand, secures a ticket to the inter-confederation playoff, which could bring them back to a World Cup for the first time in 52 years, as their only appearance was in 1974, when the country was still called Zaire.

🥵 Tense match in Rabat

The playoff in Rabat was a tense affair, which was unlocked immediately thanks to a goal by Brentford’s Onyeka: a lightning diagonal shot from the edge of the box, with a slight deflection off a defender that deceived the Congolese goalkeeper Mpasi.

Congo then found the equalizer just after the half-hour mark with Elia from Alanyaspor, who finished off a counterattack against a completely open Nigerian defense.

🥶 Extra time, double risk

The match went into extra time, where Congo had the chance to close out the game twice: on both occasions, Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saved the ball on the line.

On the first occasion, Sadiki scored: the ball crossed the line, but according to the referee, the Congolese attacker had pushed away a defender, and the goal was disallowed after a VAR review.

The second chance came in the final action of the match, with Nwabali forced to crash into the post to keep the score level.

😡 Penalty madness: bottles and brawl

The match went to penalties: there were so many mistakes that it took until the fourth shot to see the net bulge.

Noteworthy was Ejuke’s penalty, which he scored despite a water bottle being thrown from the stands just a few centimeters from the penalty spot as he was about to take the shot.

In the end, it went to sudden death and the decisive penalty was converted by Congolese captain Mbemba, who had been celebrated by his teammates before the match for his 101st appearance for the national team.

The atmosphere was extremely tense during the penalties, with the two coaches coming to blows: apparently, Congo’s coach Desabre prevented Nigerian coach Sekou Chelle from attacking a member of his staff.

In short, a lot of tension for Nigeria as they miss out on a second consecutive World Cup.

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

📸 ISSOUF SANOGO - AFP or licensors