Who is to blame for Nigeria s failure to qualify for the World Cup in a row by using "witchcraft" to blame its opponents?

Written by/Hanbing In the African play-off final of the World Cup preliminaries, Nigeria lost to the Democratic Republic of Congo in a penalty shootout and missed the 2026 World Cup. The expansion of this World Cup has increased the number of African qualifying teams from 5 to 9. However, as the most populous country in Africa and a traditional football giant, Nigeria has to face the blow of missing two consecutive World Cups, which undoubtedly disappointed Green Eagle fans. After the game, Nigeria's Malian coach Scherer "blamed" his opponent for using witchcraft in the penalty shootout, which made people laugh and cry.

Nigeria has qualified for the World Cup in Africa less often than Cameroon (8 times) and tied for second most with Morocco and Tunisia (6 times). From 1994 to 2018, Nigeria qualified for 6 of the 7 consecutive World Cups and entered the top 16 three times. The stability of the team's performance is better than that of Cameroon, the strongest, but now they both failed in the qualifying rounds with Cameroon, which is disappointing.

When Nigeria coach Scherer was interviewed by the media after the game, he complained that his opponents used witchcraft, which also aroused heated discussion. He explained why he got angry and rushed to the opponent's bench during the penalty shootout, "During the entire penalty shootout, someone in the Democratic Congo team has been doing witchcraft. It happens every time. This is the reason why I am angry. I don't know what witchcraft it is. They keep waving their hands as if it is water or something."

In African football, the theory of "witchcraft" is indeed widespread. In 2002, the Côte d'Ivoire government had to reach a settlement with the "witch doctors" to end a 10-year dispute - because these "witch doctors" claimed that it was their "witchcraft" that allowed the Côte d'Ivoire team to win the 1992 African Cup of Nations.

But using this as an excuse for the team's penalty kick failure is obviously difficult to convince the public. Former Nigeria goalkeeper Ayenuba's statement is quite representative, "I only believe in money. It can introduce the right players to build a good team and use the right tactics to win championships. If witchcraft is really effective, why haven't African teams won the World Cup yet?"

Compared with "witchcraft" that lacks evidence, the Nigerian media and fans are also more concerned about the team's actual problems: Before the play-offs, Nigerian players went on strike because the Football Association defaulted on winning bonuses, and their morale was depressed; Top scorer Osimhen was replaced in the midfield due to a leg injury, which already led to a sharp decrease in attack power. Less than an hour later, starting wingers Lukman and Chukwueze were also replaced, which was even more puzzling. Center Adams and winger Aiyuk, who came on the bench, were Sevilla teammates. The former only scored 2 goals in 11 games this season and was selected for the national team for the first time in October. Aiyuk was a substitute in the club. This time he returned to the national team after 4 years. The two have previously caused widespread doubts in the local media.

After the main Trident was replaced, the Nigerian team had no fighting spirit and pinned the victory on penalty kicks. But the Democratic Congo team made the right tactical choice: before the end of overtime, goalkeeper Fayulu, who was good at saving penalty kicks, was replaced, replicating the tactic of Van Gaal in the 2014 World Cup when he replaced substitute goalkeeper Krul to save penalty kicks. Fayulu finally saved two penalty kicks and became the team's top contributor to the victory.

The Nigerian team's penalty kick tactics were widely questioned: center back Barcelona took the first penalty, followed by substitute winger Simon, who had not scored in 19 consecutive games for the national team. As a result, both of them missed the penalty. There were three defenders among the first six penalty kickers, and the sixth player who missed the penalty kick was also a central defender. In the penalty kick shootout in the African Cup semi-finals at the beginning of last year, the then coach Peseiro arranged for the first and fifth players to appear in the penalty shootout, and the two successfully scored and eliminated their opponents.

Failure to qualify for the World Cup is of course not just the responsibility of the players and coaches. After losing the African Cup of Nations at home in the finals at the beginning of the year, the Nigeria Football Association hastily fired Portuguese coach Peseiro and replaced local assistant coach Finidi George. In the first two games of the World Cup preliminaries in June, they were without a win. They were tied at home by South Africa and were upset by lowly Benin away from home. The hiring of Malian coach Scherer from Algeria's Oran team at the beginning of this year was equally confusing. Scherer had only coached the Mali team for two years before and was not well-known in Africa. In the second game after he took office, the team was tied at home by the underdog Zimbabwe, and the team's situation worsened. Although there have been rumors of a coaching change, the Nigeria Football Association has been hesitant, and the atmosphere in the team has always been bad due to "doubts about hiring".

What is worse than being eliminated is the lack of success in Nigerian football: most of the main team led by Osimhen will be at least 30 years old in four years, and the two main central defenders are as high as 36 years old. The proud youth training is deteriorating. Nigeria has entered the U17 World Junior Championship finals 8 times and won 5 times, but has been absent from the last 4 tournaments 3 times. The only finalist was in the top 16 in 2019, which was the second worst result in the team's history. Nigeria has reached the finals of the U20 World Youth Championship twice, and participated 6 consecutive times from 2005 to 2015. However, this year it was defeated 0-4 in the 1/8 finals. The Chinese Olympic team, which has won Olympic medals three times, has also missed two consecutive Olympic Games.

The problem of unpaid wages has long plagued Nigeria’s national teams at all levels. The salaries and bonuses of former coaches Rohr and Peseiro were owed for several months. The coaches of the national team in the lower age groups did not have a fixed salary, and training allowances could not be paid on time. The former sports minister's reform package was consigned to the dustbin for proposing a host of changes to the governing body of the Football Association. The renaissance of Nigerian football lies in comprehensive changes centered on the Football Association, not in a war of words over whether opponents engage in "witchcraft".