On Monday, Nigeria coach, Eric Sekou Chelle, alleged that a DR Congo staff member used “Voodoo” during the penalty shootout of Sunday’s World Cup playoff in Rabat, Morocco, where the Super Eagles were knocked out of the race for the 2026 tournament.
The term voodoo refers to a range of spiritual or ritual practices, although it is frequently applied inaccurately or in a misleading way in sporting conversations.
Players, coaches, or fans sometimes claim that opponents use it to influence the outcome of a match, suggesting that supernatural forces rather than skill or strategy were responsible for the result.
A more recent example was the case of Paul Pogba, whose brother alleged that he used Voodoo to enhance his performance.
Nigeria’s campaign ended in a 4–3 defeat on penalties after the match finished 1–1 across 120 minutes at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
The loss means the Super Eagles will miss the World Cup for the second consecutive year.
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In a video posted by ESPN Africa on X on Monday, which showed Chelle speaking to journalists after the match, Chelle said he reacted out of frustration after witnessing repeated gestures from a member of DR Congo’s technical area during the video assistant referee review for a penalty incident.
“During all the penalty decisions, a guy from Congo did some voodoo… Every time, every time, every time. So this is why I was a little nervous after him,” he said.
When asked to explain what he saw, Chelle added while gesturing: “Something like that. I don’t know if it’s water or something like that.”
The claims could not be independently verified.
New Telegraph had reported that Nigeria was defeated 4-3 on penalties in Morocco on Sunday. The loss means that Nigeria is out of the qualification race for the FIFA 2026 World Cup.
The result sends DR Congo into the intercontinental playoff for a chance to secure one of the remaining tickets to the expanded 48-team World Cup scheduled to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Nigeria had reached the final after a dramatic 4–1 extra-time win over Gabon in Thursday’s semi-final, while DR Congo defeated Cameroon 1–0 to book their place.
The Leopards now await their playoff opponent as their qualification bid continues, while the Super Eagles’ hopes ended in painful fashion in Rabat.
