The Democratic Republic of the Congo national football team is looking forward to seizing the third star when it competes in the 2023 African Nations Finals scheduled in Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast will host the 34th edition of the continent's most important continental event, between January 13 and February 11.
The draw placed the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group Six, alongside Morocco, Zambia and Tanzania.
The Panthers team ranked 67th in the FIFA rankings last November, while the best ranking was 28th, which it occupied in August 2017.
40 years ago today the Zaire leopards were African champions in Egypt. @LaTeam243 pic.twitter.com/hnuFLBALFM
— Leopard Leader Foot (@leopard243) March 14, 2016
Establishing
The Democratic Republic of the Congo Football Federation was founded in 1919, and in 1964 it joined the International Federation (FIFA) and the African Federation (CAF).
The team's name has changed several times in the past, as it participated as Belgian Congo (1948-1960), Congo Léopoldville (1960-1963), Congo Kinshasa (1963-1971) and Zaire (1971-1997).
He played his first international match in 1948 under the name of the Belgian Congo against the Northern Rhodesian national team, which they won 3-2.
The national team's first official match was on April 11, 1963, against Mauritania, which they won 6-0.
world Cup
In 1974, the Democratic Republic of the Congo national team not only left a great mark on the African scene, but also made its way to the world football arena for the only time in its history, when it reached the World Cup finals.
In this edition, which was hosted by Germany, the team that was called “Zaire” at the time fell into a death group that included it alongside Scotland, Yugoslavia, and Brazil. It was a disastrous participation, as it lost to Scotland with two unanswered goals, to Yugoslavia by 9 consecutive goals, and to Brazil by three clean goals.
Participations in the Nations of Africa
The “Cheetahs” team participated 19 times in the African Nations Championships, making its first appearance in 1965, and topped the podium twice, in 1968 under the name of Kongo-Kinshasa and in 1974 under the name of Zaire.
#CAN-1968: Congo's former football glories are abandoned by their countries.
Winner of the African Cup of Nations in 1968, Nicodème Kabamba died on 02/28/2020 and until now his body is still in the morgue in need of money. pic.twitter.com/XXXoFWv06R
— bad juvin🇨🇩 (@JuvinMbady) April 27, 2020
- 1965 edition in Tunisia: The tournament was eliminated in the first round.
- 1968 edition in Ethiopia: He won the title after defeating Ghana in the final with a clean goal.
- 1970 version in Sudan: Eliminated in the first round.
- In the 1972 finals in Cameroon: It finished fourth, after losing to Cameroon in the third-place match.
- In 1974 in Egypt: The “Panthers” team won its second title, after drawing in the final with Zambia 2-2, then the match was replayed (according to the old system of the tournament) and won the replay match with two unanswered goals and was crowned the African Cup of Nations for the second time.
Cairo, Nasser Stadium, Thursday March 14, 1974
~~~~~
The Leopards of Zaire won the African Cup of Nations for the second time by beating Zambia 2 goals to zero, in a replayed final. @UEenRDC @AmbassadorIleka @SORAZIZ @exxousia @RogerShimba @musema_kweli @LUMUMBAJj pic.twitter.com/FjsBiIaMPo— MémoireRDC🇨🇩 (@giressbaggothy) November 21, 2021
ON THIS DAY… March 14, 1974, the Zaire Leopards won CAN '74, in Egypt. Pierre Ndaye Mulamba scored twice (30th and 76th) against Zambia and gave Zaire its second trophy in the competition, after that of 1968 (when the country was still called Congo-Kinshasa). pic.twitter.com/17ui5Bgs1j
— Benjamin Babunga Ask (@benbabunga) March 14, 2022
The record for goals scored in an edition of the African Cup of Nations is held by Pierre Ndaye Mulamba 🇨🇩, he scored 9 goals in 6 matches during the 1974 CAN won by the Leopards of Zaire (current DR Congo 🇨🇩) in Egypt 🇪🇬. https://t.co/g4Lmzo38SX pic.twitter.com/GypbV2pjaa
— 👨🏿🚀 Ꮥ.Ꮶ. ➏ 🚀 (@SKR_250) January 17, 2022
- 1976 edition in Ethiopia: The team was eliminated from the first round.
- 1988 edition in Morocco: The tournament was eliminated in the first round.
- 1992 edition in Senegal: Reached the quarter-finals and lost to Nigeria.
- 1994 edition in Tunisia: It qualified for the quarter-finals again and was defeated by Nigeria.
- 1996 edition in South Africa: He reached the quarter-finals and lost to Ghana.
The country turned a new page in its history in 1997 with the end of Mobutu's reign and renamed itself the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As a symbol, the “Leopards” shine again and finish 3rd in the 1998 African Cup of Nations.
🌐FIN⚽🐆 pic.twitter.com/H8mHJfk3Sm
— FC Geopolitics (@FCGeopolitics) November 24, 2022
- 1998 edition in Burkina Faso: They finished third, after defeating Burkina Faso on penalties 4-1 in the semi-finals.
- 2000 edition in Ghana and Nigeria: Eliminated from the first round.
- 2002 edition in Mali: Eliminated from the quarter-finals by Senegal.
- 2004 edition in Tunisia: Eliminated in the first round.
- 2006 edition in Egypt: He was eliminated from the quarter-finals by the Egyptian national team after losing 1-4.
- 2013 edition in South Africa: Eliminated in the group stage.
🗓️ 2015
⚽ Congo Derby 🇨🇬 🆚 🇨🇩
🏆 Quarter-finals #TotalAFCONRemember when the Leopards made this comeback in just 25 minutes, scoring 4 goals? 🤯#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/Kj9rHQbrjx
— CAF – FR (@caf_online_FR) May 25, 2020
- 2015 edition in Equatorial Guinea: The Panthers finished third after defeating Equatorial Guinea on penalties (4-2), in the ranking match that ended in a goalless draw.
- 2017 edition in Gabon: Lost in the quarter-finals by Ghana 1-2.
- 2019 edition in Egypt: Eliminated in the final 16 by Madagascar on penalties.
DR CONGO
2x Winners
2017: Bronze
The Leopards arrive in Egypt with renewed vigour and unfinished business after finishing 3rd in Gabon. Can Yannick Bolasie, Marcel Tisserand, Chancel Mbemba and co. hand longserving coach Florent Ibenge the trophy he craves? #TotalAFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/bPwwFMXTlC— #AFCON_Watch (@AFCON_Watch) June 17, 2019
The most famous current stars of the team:
- Chancel Mbemba (team captain and French Marseille player).
- Gideon Kalulu (French Laurent).
- Cedric Bocampo (Galatasaray, Turkey).
- Yoan Wissa (Brentford, England).
- Silas Wamangituka (Stuttgart, Germany).
- Edu Kayembe (Watford, England).
Deumercy Mbokani is the team’s top scorer with 22 goals, Bocampo comes in second place with 16 goals, and the dean of the Panthers’ players is Isama Mbeko, with 88 matches.
#Sport : the national coach of the DRC senior national team, Hector Cuper, is expected this Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at #Kinshasacapital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, announces the Congolese Football Federation this Monday, May 2, 2022 for an evaluation. pic.twitter.com/1XJ2uuSo9B
— Israel Mutombo (@IsralMutombo11) May 2, 2022
Team coach
In May 2021, the Democratic Republic of the Congo Football Federation announced the appointment of Argentine Hector Cuper as coach of the national team.
This is the fourth time that Cooper has coached a national team after his experience with the Georgia national team (between 2008 and 2009), Egypt (2015-2018) and Uzbekistan (2018-2019).
Related Post
🎙️ On March 20, 2023, Cédric Bakambu declared: “The DRC will not miss this CAN! “.
At that time, the leopards 🐆 were last with 0 points out of 6 possible. You know the rest! 📝
🎥 : @cplussportafr pic.twitter.com/WThXfDLTPX
— Congolese Football News (@CongoleseFNews) September 13, 2023
Democratic Republic of the Congo national team matches in Ivory Coast
Wednesday 17 January: Democratic Republic of Congo x Zambia (Laurent Boko Stadium).
Sunday 21 January: Morocco x Democratic Republic of Congo (Laurent Boko Stadium).
Wednesday 24 January: Tanzania x Democratic Republic of Congo (Amadou John Coulibaly Stadium).
