DR Congo exits World Cup with pride after rare unifying run

DR Congo’s World Cup campaign ended with a last-16 defeat to England, but Al Jazeera reported that many supporters viewed the run as a turning point for the national team. The Leopards’ return mattered beyond football, with fans in Bunia describing a rare moment of shared pride in a country marked by conflict, disease outbreaks and political uncertainty.

The tournament was DR Congo’s first World Cup appearance since 1974, when the team played as Zaire. Al Jazeera reported that the side lost all three matches at that tournament, failed to score and suffered heavy defeats against Scotland, Yugoslavia and Brazil.

Lukambila Jacques, 65, told Al Jazeera that he remembered that earlier campaign as painful, saying the scorelines and lack of goals felt like a curse for a country he considered great at the time. This year’s team, he and other supporters said, gave Congolese fans a different memory.

A return that changed expectations

Yoane Wissa became central to that shift, according to Al Jazeera. His three goals made him DR Congo’s first scorer at a World Cup and the country’s top scorer in the tournament.

Al Jazeera reported that Wissa’s headed goal against Portugal ended a 52-year wait for a Congolese World Cup goal. The match finished as a draw, a result that helped turn hope into belief among supporters watching across Kinshasa, Goma and Bunia.

Manassé Limbaya told Al Jazeera that he had initially expected qualification alone to be enough. He said the team’s performances against Portugal, Spain and other established football nations showed it could compete at a higher level.

Limbaya also pointed to the qualifying path, telling Al Jazeera that victories over Cameroon and Nigeria, followed by success against Jamaica in the intercontinental playoffs, had already shown the squad’s potential.

At the tournament, Al Jazeera reported that DR Congo drew with Portugal, beat Uzbekistan and lost narrowly to Colombia before England ended its run in the round of 16.

Bunia watches the dream end

In Bunia, Al Jazeera reported that viewing centres were packed for every DR Congo match, with celebrations often continuing in the streets after the final whistle. The England game brought a different scene, as supporters watched the campaign slip away.

Cephas Agbwabe, a Bunia resident, told Al Jazeera his heart raced during the match because England had elite players, though he believed DR Congo would make the game difficult. After the final whistle, Al Jazeera reported that many fans stood quietly or walked home in their Leopards shirts.

England captain Harry Kane acknowledged the test after the match, according to Al Jazeera. Kane said England had expected a difficult opponent and that DR Congo had proved hard to break down.

DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre told reporters that his team was disappointed because it believed it could advance, Al Jazeera reported. He said the Leopards played well but conceded chances, and that one of the world’s best players scored twice against them.

Desabre said the defeat came down to small margins and experience late in the game, according to Al Jazeera. He said the players deserved credit for what they had shown and would learn from the experience.

For many supporters, the loss did not erase the meaning of the run. Héritier Muyisa, a 28-year-old student in Bunia, told Al Jazeera the team made him feel proud to be Congolese and said he believed he was watching the greatest generation in the country’s history.

Dorcas Mudimo, 26, told Al Jazeera after the England defeat that she had not expected players of her generation to make more than 100 million people proud. Agbwabe said hearing the national anthem at a World Cup finals for the first time was a memory he hoped to describe to his children one day.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.