{"id":198168,"date":"2026-03-31T17:58:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup"},"modified":"2026-03-31T19:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:10:59","slug":"udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup","title":{"rendered":"Udeze backs DR Congo to qualify for 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Super Eagles defender, feanyi Udeze has said he would be rooting for Democratic Republic of Congo to earn a berth at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, DAILY POST reports.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Republic of Congo defeated Nigeria in the final of the African playoffs last November.<\/p>\n

The Leopards will battle Jamaica for a place at the mundial tonight.<\/p>\n

They are looking to qualify for the global soccer fiesta for the second time in their history.<\/p>\n

DR Congo\u2019s last appearance was at the 1974 edition hosted by Germany.<\/p>\n

Udeze revealed the reason behind his decision to support the Leopards.<\/p>\n

\u201dI am supporting DR Congo to be at the World Cup because I want the Super Eagles players to understand what it means to qualify for a big tournament like the World Cup, especially seeing that the team that knocked you out eventually picked the ticket,\u201d Udeze told Brila FM.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Former Super Eagles defender, feanyi Udeze has said he would be rooting for Democratic Republic of Congo to earn a berth at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, DAILY POST reports. The Democratic Republic of Congo defeated Nigeria in the final of the African playoffs last November. The Leopards will battle Jamaica for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nUdeze backs DR Congo to qualify for 2026 World Cup - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Super Eagles defender, feanyi Udeze has said he would be rooting for Democratic Republic of Congo to earn a berth ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Udeze backs DR Congo to qualify for 2026 World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Super Eagles defender, feanyi Udeze has said he would be rooting for Democratic Republic of Congo to earn a berth ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-31T16:58:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-31T18:10:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/sm_1774980619.992238.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Udeze backs DR Congo to qualify for 2026 World Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-31T16:58:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-31T18:10:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\"},\"wordCount\":168,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/sm_1774980619.992238.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/udeze-backs-dr-congo-to-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\",\"name\":\"Udeze backs DR Congo to qualify for 2026 World Cup - 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