The African Eagle fell! Exited in a penalty shootout + missed the World Cup for 2 consecutive years. The 75 million Serie A Golden Boot dream was shattered

In the play-off final of the African World Cup qualifiers that ended on November 17, the "African Eagle" Nigeria drew 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo after 120 minutes of fierce battle. In the subsequent penalty shootout, they lost to the Democratic Republic of the Congo 3-4 with a total score of 4-5. They missed the intercontinental play-offs and therefore missed the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The last time Nigeria participated in the World Cup was in 2018. As Africa's top team in the past, Nigeria has participated in the World Cup 6 times and reached the top 16 3 times. It also caused ridicule from netizens because it encountered Argentina 5 times.

Nigeria performed poorly in this World Cup preliminaries. They fell behind South Africa by 1 point in the group stage and missed the opportunity to advance directly. It was just a thrilling victory over Benin with a goal difference advantage and qualified for the play-offs.

However, although they advanced to the final after defeating Aubameyang's Gabon 4-1 in the play-off semi-finals, they fell short in the final. In the final, they took a lightning lead in the first 3 minutes, but were unable to score after that, and were finally equalized by the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 32nd minute.

In the penalty shootout, Nigeria missed both free throws in the first two rounds. Although the Democratic Republic of Congo also missed two free throws in the first five rounds, giving them opportunities. In the crucial sixth round, Ajayi missed a point, which directly sentenced Nigeria to death.

At this point, Nigeria has also announced that it will miss the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup. Players from the five major leagues including Osimhen, Chukwueze, Lookman, Iwobi, Ndidi, Onyeka, Bassi and Alokodare also announced that they would not qualify for the US-Canada-Mexico World Cup.

The most regrettable thing is Osimhen, who is worth 75 million euros. He scored 8 goals in this World Cup preliminaries, but he was replaced at halftime in the final and ultimately missed the World Cup main game again. The 26-year-old has not yet participated in the World Cup in his career, although he has won the Serie A championship and the Serie A Golden Boot.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, ranked 60th in the world, will participate in the intercontinental play-offs after defeating Cameroon and Nigeria to continue to retain the hope of entering the World Cup.