World Cup Preview: #36 DR Congo
Continuing on with previewing each of the 48 teams in the World Cup today, we are taking a deeper look at DR Congo
This is their second ever appearance, with the last one coming in 1974, and they have steadily been on the rise in Africa. They have gone from failing to even qualify for AFCON in 2021 to a semifinal trip in 2023 and now qualifying for the World Cup.
For those who do not know, I have my own International Ratings, which I have built over the years, and you can find them here.
At the end of this series, I will post my final rankings before the World Cup begins. In addition, I will be simulating the World Cup, which will likely be released the week before the tournament starts.
I will go in reverse order of my rankings, starting with my lowest-rated team and working up to my top-ranked team.
This will simply be a breakdown of each team. I will save my analysis for how they match up with each team for my group previews, which will come out a little closer to the week of the World Cup.
In case you missed it, check out my previous previews:
How did they get here?
African World Cup qualifying is really difficult. All countries are split into groups of six, with the top team in each group automatically qualifying for the World Cup and the top four second-place teams advancing to a second-round playoff.
The four best group runners-up (Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon, and Nigeria) advanced to the play-offs to see who qualifies for the inter-confederation play-offs.
In the first round of qualifying, DR Congo finished second in their group, only two points behind Senegal, but were the second-best second-place team.
First Round Qualifying
DR Congo impressively beat Cameroon 1-0 in the first leg of the second round, then went through on penalties against Nigeria to qualify for the inter-confederation playoffs.
Second Round Qualifying
Inter-Confederation Playoffs
Because DR Congo was the highest-ranked team in the inter-confederation playoffs, they got a bye in the first round. It took extra time, but they beat Jamaica 1-0 at a neutral site in Mexico to qualify for the World Cup.
DR Congo Stats
All data is from Footystats.org
DR Congo has some pretty impressive underlying numbers, and everyone should be on notice with their performances against Cameroon and Nigeria in the second round of qualifying.
The team, though they have struggled with it for a long time, is Senegal. They have faced the reigning AFCON champions three times in the past two years and have been dominated every time.
Even after removing their matches against Senegal during World Cup qualifying, DR Congo had only a +2.1 expected goal differential against everyone else.
DR Congo is a very direct team. In their four AFCON matches this winter, they only averaged 43.4% of the ball. When they get going forward in attack, they have a blistering pace and can really punish you.
As you can see, at AFCON, they had the second-highest direct speed and also had the fourth-most fast-break shots.
image via Opta the Analyst
DR Congo is a very solid, low-block defending team. They only allowed 3.47 non-penalty xG in their four AFCON matches. Overall, in all competitions since the beginning of 2024, they have allowed only 0.93 xG per 90 minutes.
DR Congo Key Players
All data is from transfermarkt.com
Note: This is the projected roster, not the official one.
DR Congo actually has quite a bit of talent playing throughout Europe’s top five leagues.
Even though he is now 31 and past his prime, the heart and soul of DR Congo is their captain, Chancel Mbemba. He’s been the leader on the back line during their rise up the ranks in Africa because of his elite ball-winning ability, but he is also a great passer from the back line.
These are his passing and defensive numbers at Lille this season.
image via Scout Lab
In the attack, if he is healthy, Yoane Wissa is a really great target man for DR Congo’s direct style of play.
He missed AFCON this winter and struggled to stay fit since making his move to Newcastle this past summer.
However, if you go back to last year at Brentford, he was one of the best forwards in the Premier League.
Yoane Wissa 2024/25 Stats at Brentford
If DR Congo can get Wissa at his peak, they have a really good shot at shocking some of the teams in their group.
DR Congo Tactics
Sébastien Desabre has been the figurehead of this ascension for DR Congo.
What you are going to see from them at this World Cup is a big emphasis on long balls from the back line, with an aim to win 1 v 1 duels to create chances.
You can see here that Jamaica’s front line is sitting off, which allowed Mbemba to play a ball over the top and set up a pretty decent shot.
When DR Congo gets into the final third, they mainly aim to overload the wide areas and isolate their forwards in the box to create chances via crosses.
Defensively, DR Congo is a really solid team, mainly because they play a very low block.
You’ll hardly ever see them press high up the pitch, but they can be very difficult to break down when they sit in their 5-4-1.
Senegal has really been the only team to effectively break them down because of their individual quality in 1v1s.
However, with ball winners like Mbemba, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Noah Sadiki, it’s going to be very difficult for the teams in their group to break them down.