FIFA has officially ended the hopes of the Nigeria national football team of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after confirming the final line up for this month’s inter confederation play off tournament.
The global football governing body named DR Congo national football team as Africa’s representative in the competition.
The confirmation was contained in an accreditation notice circulated to the media on Wednesday.
In the notice, FIFA outlined the tournament format and listed the six participating nations.
DR Congo’s inclusion effectively rules out Nigeria, whose football federation had earlier challenged the outcome of their defeat in the Confederation of African Football play offs in November 2025.
The Nigeria Football Federation had lodged a formal protest, alleging that DR Congo fielded ineligible players during the decisive encounter, which ended 1 to 1 before proceeding to penalties, where Nigeria was defeated.
