Scandal erupts over DR Congo national team's World Cup participation

6 October 2026, 13:35·40·Sport

FIFA is at the center of a serious controversy. According to The New York Times, citing internal documents, the organization's lawyers discovered that a player who appeared for the DR Congo national team had committed a regulatory violation. This situation has jeopardized the participation of the Congo team, which qualified for the World Cup after a 52-year hiatus, and has sparked strong protests from the Nigerian side. This was reported by Goal.com reports .

As covered by Goal.com, the conflict was triggered by a complaint from the Nigeria national team. Having lost to Congo, the Nigerians demanded an investigation into the eligibility of a player in the opponent's squad. Investigations revealed that although goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi had played for French youth teams, the necessary official documents for his change of nationality had not been fully processed by FIFA.

FIFA's decision and secret documents

The documents show that such a violation usually requires the offending team to be handed technical defeats in all matches played. However, despite all risks, FIFA allowed the DR Congo to participate in the play-off match against Jamaica. As a result, the Congolese won the decisive match and secured their ticket to the World Cup.

Internal correspondence obtained by The New York Times shows that FIFA leadership and legal committees had several alternatives. Options discussed included awarding the victory to Nigeria, imposing financial fines, replacing Congo with Nigeria in the play-offs, or taking no action due to the complaint being filed late. Ultimately, FIFA announced that it had closed the case for technical reasons.

Previous similar cases

Organization representatives explained their decision by citing the independence of the committees and adherence to current regulations, emphasizing that President Gianni Infantino did not interfere in these decisions. Nevertheless, this situation raises questions within the football community, as there are historical precedents for such cases.

For instance, in 2016, after it was discovered that Greece had fielded a player who had previously played for the Australian youth team, FIFA handed them a technical defeat in a match against Turkey. Similarly, during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Bolivia was stripped of results due to a similar violation. The Nigeria Football Federation continues to protest, demanding that justice be served in the current case.