Nigeria’s football coach has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo of practising “voodoo” after his squad’s hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup ended in a penalty shootout loss.

DR Congo and Nigeria drew 1-1 after extra time in the African play-offs final in Rabat on Sunday and the central Africans won 4-3 on penalties to book a place in inter-confederation play-offs in Mexico next March.

In his post-match remarks to journalists, coach Eric Chelle said a member of the DR Congo team “did some voodoo, every time, every time, every time”.

“That is why I was a bit nervous,” said former Mali international Chelle, who boasts four wins and two draws in competitive matches since taking charge of the Super Eagles.

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Chelle had admitted prior to the match that it was going to “be very difficult in Morocco”.

Using hand gestures, he said he saw a DR Congo member waving his hand as if sprinkling or shaking something. “I don’t know if it’s water or something like that.”

In a nervy shootout in which four spot-kicks were saved and another missed, DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba defied a bottle thrown toward him and torrential rain to convert the winning penalty as his country seek a return to the global showpiece after a lengthy absence.

Nigeria, an African football giant, lie 19 places above DR Congo in the world rankings and were pre-match favourites.

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The Super Eagles failed to qualify for the second World Cup in a row. They had not missed back-to-back editions since their debut in 1994.

While Nigeria have been regular participants at the World Cup, the sole appearance by the Congolese came in 1974 when the mineral-rich central African country was called Zaire.

Frank Onyeka opened the scoring for Nigeria in the 3rd minute before Mechak Elia equalised in the 32nd minute for the Leopards.

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Nigeria and the DRC created scoring chances, with Tolu Arokodare’s header for Nigeria and Nwabali making a crucial save from the Leopards free kick.

Calvin Bassey and Moses Simon had missed their chances early in the match and Nwabali was at his best when he denied the leoprads their two penalty kicks.

Nwabali’s two saves in the shootout was not enough to cancel out misses from Calvin Bassey, Moses Simon and Semi Ajayi.

Chancel Mbemba scored the winning penalty kick to send the Leopards into the intercontinental playoffs for the World Cup.