5-4 point kill! FIFA’s 60th Carnival: In just 3 days, two powerful players were eliminated, and the World Cup is exciting

In the early morning of November 17, the World Cup preliminaries African zone playoff finals, Nigeria vs. Democratic Congo. In this life-and-death battle, the Democratic Republic of Congo eliminated Nigeria 5-4 through a penalty shootout and successfully qualified for the intercontinental play-offs. In just three days, the Democratic Republic of Congo suffered successive upsets, eliminating Cameroon and Nigeria. Nigeria, with a total worth of 300 million euros, completely missed the World Cup.

In Group B of the African Zone of the World Cup Preliminaries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo finished second, ranking second among the four best-performing groups, and advanced to the African Zone play-offs. In the play-off semi-finals, Democratic Congo eliminated Cameroon 1-0, while Nigeria eliminated Gabon 4-1. The winner of the play-off final between Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will get a seat in the intercontinental play-offs.

The three forwards Osimhen, Chukwueze and Lukman lead Nigeria's offensive trident; in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bakambu serves as the single arrow. After 1-1, the two sides entered a brutal penalty shootout.

In the 6th round of the penalty shootout, Nigeria's Ajayi missed the penalty kick, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Mbemba hit the ball steadily. The total score was fixed at 5-4, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo won!

Mbemba, who scored the winning penalty kick, knelt down to celebrate passionately. His teammates knelt down one after another to celebrate advancing to the intercontinental play-offs.

In the stands, Democratic Congolese fans also celebrated wildly. The team came near the fans' stands to celebrate this great victory together.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, ranked 60th in the world, passed two levels in the African play-offs, successively eliminating the "African Lion" Cameroon, ranked 54th in the world, and the "African Eagle" Nigeria, ranked 41st in the world. From the perspective of paper strength, this is considered an upset.

Democratic Congo’s World Cup dream continues. In the next intercontinental play-offs, 6 teams will compete for 2 World Cup places. At present, Bolivia, New Caledonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have locked their intercontinental play-off spots.

The last time the Democratic Republic of the Congo (including the former Zaire) participated in the World Cup was in 1974, which was also their only World Cup experience. In this world preliminaries, although the Democratic Republic of the Congo did not get a direct seat, it eliminated Cameroon and Nigeria one after another, which is great enough.

In March 2026, the intercontinental play-offs of the World Cup preliminaries will begin, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will continue to fight for its World Cup dream. As long as they win 2 more games, the Democratic Republic of the Congo can return to the World Cup stage after 52 years! This African country with a population of 110 million is waiting for the moment to realize its dream.