FIFA Reportedly Allowed Ineligible DR Congo Player In 2026 World Cup
By Paul MacInnes
FIFA, the world football governing body, allowed the Democratic Republic of Congo to compete in this year’s World Cup hosted by Canada, the USA and Mexico, despite reports that an internal investigation found the country fielded an ineligible player in qualifying.
The player in question, goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, starred for DR Congo at the tournament, including against England in the last 32. Mpasi, who was born in France and played for Les Bleus at youth level, had never completed the process of switching nationalities, FIFA reportedly found. No punishment was levied against the Congolese federation, FECOFA.
The news will again raise questions over embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with a series of governance scandals having brought heightened scrutiny on his position.
FIFA’s investigative teams are independent, and the president has no input into their proceedings. FIFA is understood to have denied that Infantino played a part in the decision-making process over Mpasi, but the goalkeeper’s name is likely to remain in focus owing to a former university associate, Véron Mosengo-Omba, being elected unopposed as president of FECOFA in May.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had petitioned FIFA alleging that DR Congo fielded ineligible players during their World Cup playoff tie , which the Congolese won on penalties, in November 2025.
According to reporting by The New York Times and Le Monde of France, FIFA investigators were aware of Mpasi’s situation before DR Congo defeated Jamaica in a final intercontinental playoff round last March ahead of the 48-nation World Cup tournament.
Faced with a series of possible responses, including banning DR Congo from the playoffs, FIFA chose to reject the Nigeria complaint because it was not submitted within the required timeframe.
Nigeria appealed against the decision, and government representatives have suggested they could seek financial compensation for their loss, with a member of the national sports commission, which regulates Nigerian sport, telling ESPN: “Nothing has been decided yet, but we will seriously consider seeking compensation from FIFA for all of the economic losses this has cost Nigeria.”
CONCACAF, the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation, which includes Jamaica among its members, said it “takes player eligibility matters very seriously and expects the applicable regulations and procedures to be applied consistently and fairly in all competitions”. In a statement, it asked that any “concerns regarding player eligibility” be “thoroughly reviewed and addressed through FIFA’s appropriate governance and disciplinary bodies”.
FIFA, CONCACAF, CAF, NFF and FECOFA were all approached for comment.
On Tuesday 6 October, the Norwegian football federation confirmed it had submitted a three-pronged complaint to FIFA over its governance, including the decision to overturn a red card awarded to the USA’s Folarin Balogun after a telephone intervention by President Donald Trump during the competition. The other instances cited by the Norwegian federation are the FIFA peace prize and the abandoned plan to sell a share in the World Cup to investors, known as the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme.
“Each of these cases must be assessed based on the facts of each case,” said the federation’s President Lise Klaveness. “At the same time, the cases point to a more fundamental question: has FIFA’s position, authority or influence been used in a way that was not appropriate, and if so, did the mechanisms that were supposed to prevent this function work as they should?”
(Michael Ricketts, President of the Jamaican Football Federation, was also quoted as saying the federation was aware of the reports and would discuss the matter with FIFA to establish whether the allegations were accurate before deciding on its next step).
Paul MacInnes is a Reporter, The Guardian, London
