‘We had been watching what they were doing’ - Nigeria confident FIFA will punish DR Congo

The comments come as the Super Eagles face the possibility of missing a second consecutive World Cup for the first time since their debut in 1994.

Nigeria's formal complaint to FIFA regarding the eligibility of several Democratic Republic of Congo players in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers is built on a "very tight" case grounded in the sport's regulations, according to National Sports Commission (NSC) chairman Shehu Dikko.

Dikko was quick to clarify that Nigeria's actions were not a case of "sore losers" but stemmed from concerns that arose long before the decisive playoff matches.

Speaking on Arise Television, according to the NSC chairman, Nigerian football authorities began scrutinising DR Congo's squad after it was announced on November 1, nearly two weeks before the first leg on November 13.

"When we saw the squad that was put in place for the playoffs... we found out from the beginning that the Congolese had already named players of other nationalities who had not been cleared by FIFA," Dikko explained. "That was an alarm, so everybody started monitoring."

He emphasised that the issue predated Nigeria's elimination. "This issue did not start because we lost the playoffs. 

“We had been watching what they were doing, and then we found out a day before the qualifiers that they were getting clearances so that the players were qualified to play."

"What gave them the confidence to name a player of another nationality in their squad to play a match two weeks later, when he wasn’t qualified to play for them until the day before?" he asked. "That raised alarm for us after the qualifiers."