The scandals surrounding the Africa zone play-off of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers continued on Sunday night after Nigeria coach Eric Schele openly accused the staff of the Democratic Republic of Congo of using voodoo to win the match.
The final was played in Morocco, and the winner goes to the Intercontinental Play-off in March in Mexico, where six teams will fight for the last two World Cup quotas. Bolivia, New Caledonia, and now the Congolese are already certain to qualify there.
They won on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regular time, but a scandal broke out during the penalty shoot-out. And while at one point there was only exchanging phrases and waving hands, after Chancel Memba’s winning performance for Congo, the furious Schele and his assistant chased people from the opponent’s headquarters to the touchline, requiring security and police to stop the brawl.
At the press conference after the match, the Nigeria coach was furious that no one asked him about what happened at the end of the penalty shootout. And when reporters asked him to explain, his words were shocking:
“The Congo headquarters were doing ‘marabutage’,” the coach said in French. “I can’t believe this is happening in football.”
He also accused his colleague Sebastien Desabère of encouraging witchcraft.
The word “marabutage” is used for witchcraft, voodoo magic and similar “black techniques” in West and Central Africa, especially among the Muslim population of the countries in the region. And it is taken very seriously by the locals as something that is not right and has a mystical, but also very negative meaning.
“All their players were doing voodoo magic during the penalties,” Nigerian reserve players also supported him.
The scandal is clearly ready. As usual, when African quotas for the World Cup are distributed, it cannot be peaceful and quiet.
The Democratic Republic of Congo will try to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1974, when in its only participation – under the then name of the country Zaire – it lost all three matches with a goal difference of 0-14.
The largest African country in terms of population, Nigeria, which also prides itself as a leading football power, will miss the second consecutive championship on the planet. And the Super Eagles played in 6 out of 7 World Cups between 1994 and 2018.
Illustrative Photo by Kenechukwu Emmanuel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/youth-playing-football-in-nigeria-at-sunset-30449603/
