A World cup of 2026 will have a significant decline among African countries. Present in six editions of the World Cup, the Nigeria saw their chances of going to the edition co-hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico go down the drain after losing on penalties to Democratic Republic of the Congothis Sunday (16), in Morocco, on neutral ground, in the African playoff.
With the ball rolling, the Nigerians opened the scoring right after 3 minutes, with a goal from midfielder Frank Onyekado Brentfordbut conceded the draw at the end of the first stage, after Meschack Elijah inflate the nets.
The decision then went to penalties, and Congo counted on the goalkeeper’s brilliance Fayuluwho entered at the end of the game and took penalties, defining the classification in favor of the Congolese.
Now, Congo returns to the field in March 2026 for the world repechage, between the days 23 e 31 March, when six teams will compete for two places in the World Cup. Bolivia, New Caledonia are also already classified, with one representative from Asia and two from North and Central America remaining – yet to be defined.
Nigeria, on the other hand, was left out of the World Cup for the second consecutive edition. And even with one of the most starred – and valuable – teams on the African continent.
To give you an idea, only the trio formed by Lookman, Chukwueze e Osimhenwho started against Congo, is worth 125 million euros, according to the website specializing in the football market Transfer marketnearly R$769.6 millionin current figures.
The Nigerians had thrashed the Gabon 4-1 in the African repechage semi-final, while Congo scored 1-0 in Cameroonanother traditional team from the continent that will not be in the next World Cup.
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