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- One team will not participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico
- In Africa, Congo-Brazaville no longer qualify for the global showpiece, having lost all their matches in the series
- FIFA has announced the ban of a European team from the competition, which starts in the summer of 2026
One country will not take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in the summer of next year.
Several nations had faced temporary suspensions during the ongoing qualifiers, while a very few have even pulled out of the process entirely.
In the African qualifying campaign, FIFA suspended the football federation of Congo-Brazaville (FECOFOOT) in February for a ‘particularly serious situation’ of undue influence.
Source: Getty Images
As a result, their fixtures against Zambia and Tanzania were cancelled by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the opposition teams were handed 3-0 victories respectively, SPORTbible reports.
The ban was lifted in May, and Congo-Brazaville will now play their remaining three qualifiers in the current international break.
They are the only African team that can no longer qualify for the global spectacle, having lost all five of their matches so far.
In their group, Eritrea withdrew from the matches amid reports that the country’s government was concerned that players would seek asylum when they travel to other countries for away matches.
They are currently the lowest-ranked FIFA nation, having returned to international football in May.
In Asia, Pakistan were initially banned over concerns about the country’s electoral process, but it has been lifted.
FIFA bans Russia from 2026 World Cup
Meanwhile, the only country that is banned from the 2026 FIFA World Cup is Russia, as the country was suspended for their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Despite playing a number of friendly matches, they cannot take part in competitive football.
Since the suspension about three years ago, the Russian national team have played friendlies against nations from other parts of the world, aside from Europe.
The only European team they have faced is Belarus, after both teams traded tackles in Minsk back in June.
FIFA said in a statement:
“Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
“These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively, the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.”
Source: Getty Images
Nigeria desperate for World Cup qualification
Legit.ng earlier reported that Super Eagles legend Sunday Oliseh has called for drastic measures against the board of the Nigerian Football Federation if Nigeria fail to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar after losing the playoff round to rivals Ghana following a 1-1 draw at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
Source: Legit.ng
