—- Nigeria’s absence from the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals has been confirmed after FIFA, as expected, rejected a formal complaint that DR Congo had used ineligible players in their penalty shootout victory over the Super Eagles in the African playoff final.

DR Congo are thus Africa’s representative in the forthcoming intercontinental playoff tournament to decide the last two countres to qualify for the World Cup.

In an official tournament notice issued to media partners to cover the tournament holding in Mexico, FIFA named DR Congo as one of the six countries to battle for the two tickets.

A statement said: “The FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament will see six teams fight it out for the final two places at the FIFA World Cup 2026™, to be staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States across 16 host cities.”

Other participating nations confirmed by FIFA are Bolivia, DR Congo, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname.

The play-off tournament will take place between 26 – 31 March 2026 in the cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey.

The absence of Nigeria means the Super Eagles will miss consecutive World Cup tournaments for the first time since their maiden participation in 1994.

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