📸 Nigeria v Gabon: referee’s astonishing play-off decision 😱

This is going to get people talking...

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This Thursday evening, Nigeria and Gabon face off in Morocco for a spot in the final of the African zone playoff tournament for qualification to the 2026 World Cup.

And just as the second half had begun, the Gabonese underdog thought they had won a decisive penalty.

Indeed, from a corner, central defender Aaron Appindangoye was held by the shirt by a Nigerian defender.

The referee did not blow the whistle at first, but VAR intervened and he then had to go and review the replays!

And to everyone’s surprise, after watching the footage, the referee stuck with his initial decision: no penalty!

A decision that could cause a scandal if Gabon fails to qualify...

As a reminder, the winner of this duel will face the winner of the match between Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The overall winner of these African zone playoffs will then go on to compete in another tournament, during the March international window, featuring two teams from CONCACAF, one from the AFC, one from CONMEBOL (Bolivia), and one from the OFC (New Caledonia).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 KENZO TRIBOUILLARD