DR Congo
Les Léopards
Manager
The Story
Les Léopards are back. After 52 years in the wilderness, DR Congo have returned to the World Cup, and the story of how they got here is genuinely one of the great qualifying campaigns in African football history. Sébastien Desabre took charge in August 2022 with a clear mission: modernise a squad rich in diaspora talent and make them competitive on the continental and global stage. He has delivered on every count. DR Congo finished second behind Senegal in CAF Group B, then dismantled Cameroon with a last-gasp Chancel Mbemba header before dispatching Nigeria on penalties in the CAF second-round final. Axel Tuanzebe's 100th-minute winner against Jamaica in Guadalajara in March 2026 confirmed the dream. The country declared a public holiday. That tells you everything about what this means. The squad Desabre has assembled leans heavily on the Congolese diaspora. Four players featured in the Premier League in 2025-26, including Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa and West Ham right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Cédric Bakambu, 35, fronts the attack from Real Betis, sitting one goal short of the all-time national scoring record. Captain Mbemba, the most-capped Leopard in history with 107 appearances, organises a defence that kept a clean sheet in seven of their last ten matches entering the tournament. Tactically, Desabre sets up in a compact mid-block that transitions quickly through the lines, leaning on Wissa's direct running and the engine room of Noah Sadiki in midfield. Group K, containing Portugal and Colombia, is brutally tough. Realistically, the Uzbekistan game on 27 June is the matchup where three points are genuinely possible. With this team's collective hunger and a defence that has proven difficult to break down, the Leopards are not in North America just to make up the numbers. They are there to score their first ever World Cup goal and, ideally, make the Round of 32.
DR Congo's defensive unit is genuinely difficult to break down, keeping seven clean sheets in their last ten matches before arriving in North America, with Mbemba's leadership and Wan-Bissaka's athleticism at right-back providing a solid platform. The attacking pace of Wissa and the clinical experience of Bakambu, who has played LaLiga football for years, gives the Leopards real threat on the counter-press.
Every single player in this 26-man squad is a World Cup first-timer, and the psychological weight of facing Portugal and Colombia in consecutive games could deflate a group that has never experienced this stage before. Creativity in central midfield against deep defensive blocs can be limited; Desabre's side can struggle to break down organised defences when the initial transition is stopped.
Key Players
Chancel Mbemba
Lille OSC · age 31
The captain and undisputed heartbeat of this DR Congo side. Mbemba holds the national record for caps and has been the defining figure of their qualification campaign, scoring the winner against Cameroon in injury time and burying the decisive penalty against Nigeria. Commanding in the air, sharp in the tackle, and vocal across the back line. He rebuilt his reputation at Porto and Marseille after a difficult stint at Newcastle, and now leads at Lille. This is his World Cup. Everything runs through him.
Yoane Wissa
Newcastle United · age 28
Wissa arrives at this World Cup after four Premier League seasons, three at Brentford and one injury-disrupted campaign at Newcastle, and that top-flight conditioning matters at this level. His ability to time runs off the last defender, stay compact in the press, and finish with either foot gives Desabre a genuine cutting edge. No other player in DR Congo's squad generates danger the way he does, and in a group containing Portugal, that counts for plenty.
Cédric Bakambu
Real Betis · age 35
The most experienced goalscorer in the squad, Bakambu sits one goal shy of Dieumerci Mbokani's all-time DR Congo record of 22. His LaLiga experience with Real Betis gives him genuine technical quality at the highest level, and his aerial presence offers Desabre a different dimension in attack. At 35 he may not start every game, but expect him to arrive as a critical impact player who knows exactly how to win penalties and hold up play.
Noah Sadiki
Sunderland · age 22
The pick of the under-the-radar names in this squad. Sadiki is a box-to-box midfielder with an exceptional engine, tactical maturity well beyond his years, and the explosive ball-carrying to shift DR Congo up the gears in transition. Sunderland's rise through the Championship has given him regular minutes against physically demanding opponents. He is the kind of player who makes a team tick without ever appearing on a highlight reel, and he could be the tournament's best-kept midfield secret.
Axel Tuanzebe
Burnley · age 27
The man who sent an entire nation into raptures. Tuanzebe's 100th-minute winner against Jamaica is already the defining moment in modern Congolese football history. Originally England-eligible, the Burnley centre-back switched allegiance and proved his worth as an aerial threat from set pieces as well as a composed defender. He was relegated from the Premier League with Burnley, but that result against Jamaica made none of that matter. Arriving in North America as a national hero, Tuanzebe will carry enormous expectation on his shoulders.
Warm-Up Matches
- v Denmark2026-06-03 · Stade Maurice-Dufrasne, LiègeD0-0
- Scheduledv Chile2026-06-09 · La Línea de la Concepción, Spain (cancelled)
Recent Form
Tournament Prediction
Group K is punishing. Portugal are the clear group favourites with Cristiano Ronaldo still commanding the attack, and Colombia bring genuine tournament pedigree. DR Congo's path to progression runs almost entirely through the Uzbekistan match on 27 June, where a victory would keep them alive for one of the eight best third-place spots in the expanded 48-team format. That is a realistic target, not a fantasy. Desabre's side is defensively disciplined, physical and aggressive in the press, and mentally hardened after beating Cameroon, Nigeria, and Jamaica in succession. A third-place finish in the group with three or four points is a genuine, achievable outcome. Getting there requires at minimum a draw against Colombia or a win against Uzbekistan. The squad's total lack of World Cup experience is the biggest unknown. Some teams rise to that stage. Others crumble. Given the evidence from qualification, this group of Leopards has shown they do not crumble easily.
Betting Markets
DR Congo to reach the Group Stage.
Confidence: Medium