The entire team of football players has been accused of committing a crime and… using magic

Only six months remain before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.  Virtually all teams have been selected and have started to prepare for the major event of a four year period. However, the national team of the Democratic Republic of Congo may be unable to attend the world cup because of reasons unrelated to sports.
The team’s managers have been accused of deceit and… sorcery. 


“The team used Voodoo rituals.”

The national team of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not attended the World Cup since 1974. At that time, the country, then known as Zaire, had no success and was particularly humiliated in its match against Yugoslavia; the result was 0-9.
In the most recent qualifying round for the African region of the World Cup (which began in 2023), the “Leopards” as the national team is nicknamed, once again attempted to qualify for the world cup. They completed the group phase in second position behind Senegal, thus earning the right to compete in the playoff matches, which ultimately determines the winner who earns the right to represent the continent in the United States.
The “Leopards” were able to reach the final of the playoff matches, where they won a hard fought battle with Nigeria, ranked among the best in the world. In the penalty shootout, the team of coach Sebastien Desabre came out on top over Nigeria. The Nigerian team was extremely disappointed by the loss and expressed anger at their opponent, accusing them of performing magic during the penalty shootout. 
”I saw during the penalty shootout, there was a player from Congo practicing his voodoo ritual. He kept doing it the whole time. And then he drank what looked like water, …and I lost my cool,” said Nigeria coach Erik Chelle.


Eric Schelle – namu.wiki

“It Was Fraud”


Nigeria did not limit themselves to accusing their opponents of the use of magic. They went ahead and contested the opportunity to participate in the world cup in a judicial manner. According to an article published by ESPN on Dec. 16th, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) stated that the national team of the Democratic Republic of Congo committed intentional violations of the law.
According to the laws of the Democratic Republic of Congo, citizens are forbidden from possessing passports issued by two or more countries simultaneously. The Nigerians stated that from 6 to 9 footballers, born in Europe and having recently obtained naturalization, had not renounced the passports of their birth countries.
”There are many of them who possess European passports, some of them are French, others Dutch. There are no doubts about this matter. We cannot discuss this issue further at present, however, we have formally submitted our complaint. FIFA works according to its own rules and permitted participation in accordance with the information that was provided to us. However, we assert that this was fraud,” states NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi in the article.
In March 2026, the “Leopards” will face the winner of the series between New Caledonia and Jamaica. If successful, the Democratic Republic of Congo will take part in the World Cup for the first time in 52 years. However, considering complaints from both Nigeria and Cameroon, this could be impossible. If some of the players of the national team of the Democratic Republic of Congo only received citizenship in name, this would provide enough reason for an investigation and subsequent sanctions by FIFA. Whether the international federation wishes to tarnish its reputation is uncertain.