Nsue was never eligible for Equatorial Guinea, FIFA says
Nsue, who won 42 caps for Equatorial Guinea, played in Spain's youth national teams before switching to Equatorial Guinea.

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea — Equatorial Guinea captain and AFCON 2023 top scorer Emilio Nsue was never eligible to play for Equatorial Guinea, per a 15-page statement FIFA released yesterday. Equatorial Guinea was stripped of its first two victories in World Cup qualifying, giving them tough odds to qualify for its first World Cup ever.
The FIFA report states that Equatorial Guinea went through a confusing process to gain approval from the Spanish FA to free him from their national team. The Equatoguinean FA (FEGUIFOOT) reportedly asked Spain, not FIFA, to release Nsue. Additionally, Nsue didn’t gain Equatoguinean nationality until after he played with the Spanish youth team, giving FIFA the grounds to reject his nationality switch.
Nsue allegedly submitted a fake passport to FIFA stating he was born in Malabo rather than Palma de Mallorca.
Nsue played in two World Cup qualifying games for Equatorial Guinea upon gaining approval from Spain, both of which were voided by FIFA due to the lack of formal authorization. Nsue continued to play for Equatorial Guinea despite FIFA’s rejection and the voided results.
He also participated in the 2015, 2021, and 2023 AFCONs: outside tournaments organized by CAF rather than FIFA. His Golden Boot at the most recent AFCON, where he scored five goals in four appearances, gave him new publicity and likely reminded FIFA of his open case.
FIFA gave Nsue six days to respond to their accusations, but Nsue did not respond. They ruled that the FC Intercity striker will serve a six-month ban from international football and that Equatorial Guinea will pay a fine of around $169,000. Equatorial Guinea will also forfeit its first two World Cup qualifying matches, leaving them in last place with zero points.
Judges explained that no action would be taken for AFCON qualifying because the 2026 World Cup was an ongoing competition.
The ruling follows a tumultuous series of events that saw police officers getting involved in a Nsue-led confrontation, a viral Instagram rant, and FEGUIFOOT indefinitely suspended Nsue.
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