National soccer team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo / World Championships

DR Congo
République Democratique du Congo

World Cup record goalscorer:	none
World Cup record players:	10 players with 3 games each
Rank :	78
Balance sheet
3 World Cup games 0 wins 0 draws 3 defeats 0:14 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Zaire 0-2 Scotland Dortmund ( FRG ); June 14, 1974
Biggest World Cup defeat Zaire 0: 9 Yugoslavia Gelsenkirchen ( FRG ); June 18, 1974
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	1 ( first : 1974 )
Best results	Preliminary round 1974
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the national soccer team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at soccer world championships . The team was able to qualify for the World Cup in 1974 under the name Zaire. Then she failed again and again in the qualification. In the all-time ranking, the Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks 78th and penultimate place as the worst African team and worst team with only one participation.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				Not an independent state
1934	Italy	not participated				Not an independent state
1938	France	not participated				Not an independent state
1950	Brazil	not participated				Not an independent state
1954	Switzerland	not participated				Not an independent state
1958	Sweden	not participated				Not an independent state
1962	Chile	not participated				not a FIFA member, first international match only in 1963
1966	England	not participated
1970	Mexico	Registration refused by FIFA
1974	Germany	Preliminary round (as Zaire)	Scotland , Yugoslavia , Brazil	16.	Blagoja Vidinić	First participation of a country from sub-Saharan Africa in a World Cup finals. Eliminated after three defeats as bottom of the group. The 0: 9 against Yugoslavia is the biggest defeat to date.
1978	Argentina	withdrawn (as Zaire)
1982	Spain	not qualified (as Zaire)				In the qualifying in the third round of Cameroon failed.
1986	Mexico	not participated
1990	Italy	not qualified (as Zaire)				In the qualification in the second round, Tunisia failed, which also failed to qualify.
1994	United States	not qualified (as Zaire)				In the qualification in the first round, Cameroon failed again.
1998	France	not qualified (as Zaire)				In the qualification in the 2nd round to South Africa failed.
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round, Tunisia failed again.
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification in the 2nd round to Ghana failed.
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round, Egypt failed, which could also not qualify.
2014	Brazil	not qualified				In the qualification of Cameroon failed.
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round failed to Tunisia.
2022	Qatar

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Not participated (not an independent state, not recognized or registration not accepted): 10 × (48%; 1930 to 1970, 1986),
• Withdrawn: 1 × (5%; 1978)
• Unqualified: 9 × (43%; 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
• Sports qualification: 1 × (5% or 10% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 1 × (5%; 1974)

World championships

1930 to 1962

From 1885 to 1908, the Congo was initially the private property of the Belgian King Leopold II and from 1908 a Belgian colony. In 1960 he became independent as the Republic of the Congo. The Fédération Congolaise de Football Association was founded in 1919, but was not incorporated into FIFA until 1964. Therefore, the team could not take part in the first seven world championships.

1966 in England

The Congo had not registered for the World Cup in the "motherland of football" , and since the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania were only allowed one place in the final round, all 15 registered African teams withdrew.

1970 in Mexico

For qualification for the World Cup in Mexico, the Congo's registration was not accepted by FIFA.

1974 in Germany

Scene from the 1st World Cup game against Scotland ( Maku Mayanga (Zaire-left) and Billy Bremner (right))

Scene from the game against Brazil

In qualifying for the World Cup in the Federal Republic of Germany, Zaire, as the Congo has called itself since 1971, had to play against Togo in the first round and played the first World Cup qualifier on June 6, 1972 in Lomé . Both teams parted goalless and with a 4-0 14 days later in Kinshasa , the second round was reached. In this, Zaire met Cameroon. Both won 1-0 away, so two days after the game in Kinshasa there was a third game, which Zaire won 2-0. In the third round they lost 1-0 to Ghana in the away game, but won the second leg 4-1. Zaire was then able to prevail in the fourth round with three sporting victories and one win at the green table (Morocco did not play for the last hopeless game) against Zambia and Morocco and qualify as the first sub-Saharan team for the World Cup.

In Germany, the Zairians met in their first World Cup match in Scotland and lost with 0: 2nd The second game against Yugoslavia was followed by a 9-0 defeat, which the Yugoslavs set the record for Hungary (9-0 at the 1954 World Cup against South Korea). The last game against defending champions Brazil was followed by a 3-0 draw. With this, Zaire and the Congo said goodbye to the World Cup for at least 44 years. Zaire had, however, since the other three teams parted in a draw, by preventing further goals by the Scots, the Scots were eliminated without defeat due to the fewer goals scored.

1978 in Argentina

In qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina , Zaire was supposed to face the Central African Republic in the first round. Since this withdrew, Zaire advanced one round without a fight. Zaire then withdrew in the second round, in which Zaire would face Nigeria, back.

1982 in Spain

In qualifying for the World Cup in Spain , Zaire had to face Mozambique in the first round and won both games 5-2 and 2-1. In the second round, after a 1-1 draw in Madagascar, the home game was won 3-2 and reached the third round. Here the home game could be won 1-0 against Cameroon, but in the second leg they lost 6-1. Cameroon then managed to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in the fourth round.

1986 in Mexico

On the qualification for the second World Cup in Mexico Zaire did not participate.

1990 in Italy

For the qualification for the second World Cup in Italy , Zaire had reported again and received a bye in the first round. In the second round, Tunisia, Zambia and Morocco were the opponents. Tied on points with Zambia, only third place was taken after Tunisia. The qualification was lost on the last day of play with a 1-1 draw in Morocco, as Tunisia won against Zambia at the same time, giving Tunisia one point more. Tunisia then failed in the third round to Cameroon.

1994 in the United States

For qualifying for the World Cup in the USA , Zaire was placed in a group with Cameroon , Swaziland and Uganda Liberia. Liberia withdrew after the opening defeat against Zaire and a draw against Cameroon, so that the games were taken out of the rating. After losing away to Swaziland and Cameroon and a goalless draw at home against Cameroon, Zaire had no chance to qualify and waived the home game against Swaziland. Cameroon, which was the first African team to advance to the quarter-finals at the previous World Cup, was then able to qualify for this World Cup, but no longer match the performance at the 1990 World Cup.

1998 in France

The qualification for the second World Cup in France went better at first. In the first round Mauritius could be eliminated with two wins (5: 1 and 2: 0). In the second round, however, South Africa , the neighboring Republic of the Congo and Zambia were stronger. Because of the First Congo War , two home games had to be played on neutral ground in Zimbabwe and Togo and Zaire could only achieve two draws, but lost all other games and was bottom of the group. South Africa qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia , the team has now returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the first round, they beat Djibouti 1: 1 and 9: 1 . In the second round, Tunisia and Ivory Coast were stronger. Only the Republic of the Congo and Madagascar were even weaker.

2006 in Germany

For the second World Cup in Germany , the Democratic Republic of the Congo could not qualify again . After a bye in the first round, the team was drawn into a group with Ghana , South Africa , Burkina Faso , Cape Verde and Uganda in the second round . The team lost only two games (in Uganda and Burkina Faso), but four wins and four draws were not enough to qualify as Ghana ended up with five points more and qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

2010 in South Africa

The qualification for the first World Cup in Africa was missed. In the second round, Egypt , Malawi and Djibouti were the opponents. Djibouti lost all games, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo only won their home game against Malawi. Since all other games were lost, it was only enough for third place. The first two could not qualify in the next round either.

2014 in Brazil

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil was also bad. In the first round Swaziland was eliminated 3-1 and 5-1, but Cameroon and Libya were stronger in the group stage . A victory was only achieved against Togo . After a 0-0 draw in the penultimate game against Cameroon, the team had no chance to qualify and ended the group stage in third place. Group winners Cameroon then beat Tunisia in the last round and went to the World Cup.

2018 in Russia

In qualifying , the team only had to intervene in the second round, which took place in November 2015. Opponents were Burundi , who won both games against the Seychelles in the first round . After a 3-2 away win, a 2-2 home game was enough to reach the third round. This took place between October 2016 and November 2017 and the opponents were Guinea, Libya and Tunisia. The team started with wins against Libya and in Guinea, then lost in Tunisia and lost the qualification with a 2-2 in the home game against Tunisia, so that the last two wins could not do anything and the team was one point behind Tunisia took second place.

player

Ranking of the Zairean World Cup players with the most appearances

1. Tshimen Buhanga , Mwamba Kazadi , Uba Kembo Kembo , Mantantu Kidumu , Massamba Kilasu , Boba Lobilo , Mambwene Mana , Adelard Mayanga Maku , Mwanza Mukombo , Ilunga Mwepu - 3 games each

Ranking of the Zairean World Cup players with the most goals

• So far none

World Cup captains

• 1974: Kidumu Mantantu (replaced twice)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1974: Mulamba Ndaye received the red card in the game against Yugoslavia and was suspended for the last game against Brazil.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

In the only participation so far, no players playing abroad were appointed.

Games

Zaire has played 3 World Cup games so far, all of which have been lost. They did not meet the host and later world champions or newcomers, but the defending champion. The three losses are also the highest against these countries and the only games against these countries.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent	venue		occasion	comment
1	06/14/1974	0: 2	Scotland	Dortmund ( Germany )	*	1. Final round	First international match against Scotland
2	06/18/1974	0: 9	Yugoslavia	Gelsenkirchen ( Germany )	*	1. Final round	First international match against Yugoslavia
3	06/21/1974	0: 3	Brazil	Gelsenkirchen ( Germany )	*	1. Final round	Only international game for a South American team against Zaire

Negative records

• Zaire is one of the five of the 79 World Cup finals who have not yet scored a goal. All of them have only taken part in a World Cup finals: the Netherlands Indies (1938), Zaire (1974), Canada (1986), China (2002) and Trinidad & Tobago (2006)
• Most tournament goals conceded: 1974 - Zaire and Haiti - 14 each in 3 games (most goals conceded by all teams that only participated once)
• Biggest defeat in a tournament: Zaire - Yugoslavia 9-0 in 1974 (1st final round) - only El Salvador conceded more goals in a game in 1982 (10 against Hungary, but scored 1 goal).
• Worst team in a tournament (1974).

Web links

• fifa.com: DR Congo

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ ^{a b} fifa.com: History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year) (PDF; 325 kB), p. 19