How Nigeria’s World Cup dream died: Unfulfilled promises, an airport stand-off and ‘voodoo’

Ademola Lookman was staring into space when Chancel Mbemba stepped up to take the penalty which broke the hearts of 230million Nigerians. The reigning African Footballer of the Year reluctantly craned his neck to watch the exact moment his country’s chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup were extinguished.

When Mbemba’s effort hit the back of the net, just above Stanley Nwabali’s outstretched right hand, everybody’s emotions came pouring out. The Democratic Republic of Congo squad darted across the pitch to celebrate with their heroic captain, while Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi put his head in his hands. His team-mate — star striker Victor Osimhen — looked stunned, while Akor Adams and William Troost-Ekong walked down the tunnel in tears. Nigeria’s head coach Eric Chelle had to be separated from the DR Congo backroom staff. Chelle later alleged that the opposition’s players were “practising voodoo” during the penalty shootout. A representative of DR Congo denied the claims when asked by The Athletic and, on Monday, Chelle posted on social media that he “never wanted to target the Congolese staff”.

At the end of a draining week, Nigeria fell short. Sunday’s defeat by DR Congo in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) World Cup play-off final was, in footballing terms, a disaster. It means they have failed to qualify for consecutive World Cups for the first time since 1990. Nigeria made it to six of the seven editions between 1994 and 2018. DR Congo’s last — and only — appearance came in 1974, when they were still called Zaire.

Nigeria’s chaotic qualifying campaign involved three different permanent head coaches, a financial dispute which led to players boycotting training, an online rant from Osimhen, and “being abandoned” without food or water at an airport in Libya.

The soul-searching and recriminations are already under way.

“The Nigeria Football Federation wishes to openly and sincerely apologise to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), to the Federal Government as a whole; and to millions of Nigerians, most especially our passionate, loyal football fans, following the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals,” the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said in a statement on Monday.

“Sunday’s loss to DR Congo in the Africa Play-off Final in Rabat remains a moment of profound sadness for Nigerian football. For a nation where the Super Eagles serve as a symbol of unity, hope, and collective pride, missing out on the World Cup for a second consecutive time is a disappointment of great weight and emotional depth.

“The NFF, the technical crew, and the players understand the gravity of this moment. We understand the expectations Nigerians rightly hold. We understand the passion and sacrifice of a country that has always stood firmly behind its team, through triumphs and trials. And we recognise that our collective effort did not deliver the outcome this nation deserved.”

Chelle turned 48 last Tuesday but there was no chance of any cake. Nigeria’s squad decided to boycott training — 48 hours before they faced Gabon in the play-off semi-final — due to a financial dispute with the NFF. The players took action because they and the backroom staff had not been paid for previous performances. The NFF only discovered the squad’s intentions on Tuesday as preparations were being made for training.

The fourth floor of the Rive Hotel, where Nigeria stayed throughout their time in Rabat for the CAF World Cup play-offs, was where Chelle and his assistants usually conducted tactical meetings. It became the location for tense negotiations between the players, led by captain Troost-Ekong, and the NFF. Ibrahim Gusau, the NFF’s president, arrived in Morocco on Tuesday afternoon and held discussions with them.

Eric Chelle was unable to guide Nigeria to World Cup qualification (Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)

It was unclear whether the players would emerge the following day. The Moroccan flag rippling in the breeze at the top of the hotel was the only sign of movement for hours. Around 4.30pm on Wednesday, a couple of staff members came out of the lobby to load up the team bus with bottles of water and training equipment. The players appeared a few minutes later. There were a couple of smiles but they mainly looked relieved after reaching an agreement about the money they were owed.

Following their 4-1 victory over Gabon, Troost-Ekong said “we decided it was the right thing to do” and “this is the moment when the whole world is watching us”.

“I have been in difficult situations with this team before and we had to make a stand for ourselves, for this team and also send a message to the whole of Nigeria and the next generation of players to stand for what is right,” the centre-back added. “We weren’t asking for anything extra. I think there was a misconception about this special bonus thing, but we just wanted to be respected because we have a team that is like a brotherhood.”

According to one source, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not permitted to speak publicly, government bureaucracy was partially to blame for the delayed payment. The funds have to be signed off by multiple departments, including the finance minister and National Sports Commission (NSC) chairman, before they are given to the NFF.

There was another factor behind the squad’s frustration. After losing the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final to Ivory Coast, they travelled to Abuja and were all awarded a Member of the Order of Niger (MON) by the president, Bola Tinubu. They were each reportedly promised an apartment and a piece of land by Tinubu. Other pledges were made by the government and the NFF to offer them more support in the future. Those promises have not been fulfilled yet.

John Owan Enoh was the Minister of Sports when Nigeria lost to Ivory Coast in February 2024. Eight months later, Tinubu dissolved the Ministry of Sports and replaced it with the NSC. Shehu Dikko, who spent the past week with the team in Morocco, was appointed as the NSC’s chairman, while Enoh became the Minister of State for Industry. Technically, the players should have received those gifts from a government department which no longer exists.

Tinubu, 73, is the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party and was elected as president in March 2023. Significant change at government level can have a knock-on effect but APC has been the ruling party in Nigeria since the former president Muhammadu Buhari defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election.

In the dressing room after beating Gabon, Troost-Ekong was presented with a plastic bag. Gusau is standing next to him, with a scarf draped around his shoulders.

In a statement on X, the NSC said: “The commission also acknowledges and thanks all its private sector partners and supporters for their consistent support and indeed for fulfilling the commitment of $30,000-per-goal motivational incentive promised the team for the match against Gabon, which was redeemed and delivered directly to the players immediately after the match thus reinforcing a culture of accountability, motivation, and athlete-centred governance in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and share prosperity vision of President (Tinubu).”

Sometimes it feels like drama follows Nigeria everywhere.

A few weeks after the 2023 AFCON, Jose Peseiro announced he would step down as head coach at the end of his contract. Former Nigeria international Finidi George, who represented Ajax, Real Betis, Mallorca and Ipswich Town during his playing career, was promoted after working as Peseiro’s assistant.

Nigeria drew with South Africa and lost to Benin in George’s only games in charge. It left them with three points from their first four World Cup qualifiers after recording two draws under Peseiro. Only the top team in each CAF qualifying group automatically earns a spot in next year’s tournament. Nigeria eventually finished second behind South Africa. They were level on points with Benin but earned a place in the play-offs due to their superior goal difference. Nigeria have ultimately been punished for their woeful start.

Those results are not the reason why George left. The two main factors were the NFF’s plan to appoint a technical director, allegedly without telling him (in an interview with ESPN, he said he had no issue with a technical director being appointed, but he was not happy he had been kept in the dark), and a breakdown in his relationship with Osimhen.

The centre-forward missed the fixtures against South Africa and Benin with an ankle injury he suffered in Napoli’s final match of the 2023-24 season. Reacting to an online story that claimed George had accused Osimhen of faking an injury, Osimhen exploded in a live video on social media. He claimed he had an MRI scan and called George straight afterwards. “I don’t have time for nonsense talk,” he said. “I’m not going to keep quiet again.”

Osimhen threatened to post evidence and screenshots of his conversations with George. “If they don’t make me come back to the Super Eagles, so be it.” George resigned and the NFF denied reports that Osimhen had been banned from selection.

Technical director Augustine Eguavoen took over the team on a short-term basis. On August 27, 2024, Nigeria announced their next permanent manager. Former Bayern Munich forward Bruno Labbadia, who had previously coached Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg and Wolfsburg, did not take charge of a single game due to an issue with “the stringent regulations of German tax authorities”.

“We have been on the tax issue for the past three days, and I told him clearly that there was no way the NFF will agree to offset the concomitant tax percentage on his salary that will be demanded by German tax authorities,” Gusau said in a statement. “It is not possible for us to shoulder the responsibility of shelling out another money, between 32 to 40 per cent of his salary, after paying the agreed monthly wage.

“The NFF and Mr Labbadia reached an agreement in principle before we made the announcement that he would become the head coach of the Super Eagles. The tax details were never part of our discussions, and he had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up. We were doing our best to be flexible in the discussions but he was adamant that the NFF had to pay the full tax amount as well. We simply cannot do that.”

It was a messy situation but the NFF deserves some credit for not tying itself up in a complex financial agreement.

Eguavoen remained in charge until January, when former Mali head coach Chelle was announced as George’s permanent replacement. Eguavoen oversaw a troubling scenario in October 2024 when Nigeria travelled to Libya for an AFCON qualifier. The squad alleged on social media that their plane was diverted to Al Abraq International Airport in Libya, where they were stuck for 12 hours without access to food, water or phone connection. Troost-Ekong announced they would not play Libya and implored CAF to investigate.

“We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria,” Troost-Ekong said. “Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with international football.”

Two weeks later, CAF announced Libya had breached multiple rules. Nigeria were awarded the victory and the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) were fined $50,000 (£38,000).

Chelle brought a sense of stability to Nigeria on the pitch. He gave Benjamin Fredrick an opportunity and the 20-year-old defender, who is on loan at Belgian side Dender from Brentford, looks like a future star.

But Chelle, who made nearly 100 appearances in the French top flight across spells with Lens and Valenciennes, made some questionable decisions. Substituting Lookman, 10 minutes after Osimhen came off with a leg injury, meant Nigeria played the majority of the second half and all of extra time against DR Congo without their best attacking players.

Iwobi’s removal was an admission that they had given up on ball progression. Calvin Bassey and Nwabali started launching passes towards substitutes Adams and Tolu Arokodare. Chelle looked visibly frustrated with Arokodare’s struggles to hold up the ball and replaced him with centre-back Chidozie Awaziem in the 115th minute.

Awaziem’s introduction was bizarre as Chelle overlooked Troost-Ekong, who scored three penalties at the last AFCON, including one in a shootout victory over South Africa in the semi-finals. Allowing Bassey, who had never taken a penalty in his senior career, to go first was another strange choice. Bassey, to give him credit, was exceptional during the game and the only player apart from Troost-Ekong to speak to the media afterwards.

Chelle was tactically outplayed by opposition head coach Sebastien Desabre. He was bubbling with anger throughout and could not contain it when Mbemba scored. Chelle did not even see Mbemba’s shot go in as he charged towards the DR Congo bench. Desabre held him back. Chelle alleged on multiple occasions afterwards that opposing players were “practising voodoo” during the shootout and spraying water onto the pitch. It was a crude and bitter attempt to distract from his team’s mistakes.

Nigeria need to pick themselves up quickly. Chelle was hired with the aim of reaching the World Cup but the next AFCON starts in 33 days. This was supposed to be a golden generation but Lookman, Osimhen, Iwobi and Bassey will all be at least 30 when Morocco host the 2030 tournament with Portugal and Spain. Wilfred Ndidi and Troost-Ekong, the only survivors from the 2018 World Cup apart from Iwobi, might be edging towards retirement by then.

It is easy to criticise the players but they have jumped over a lot of hurdles over the past two years. Maybe if everything around them had been more stable, their World Cup dream would still be alive.