Congo national football team

The Congo national football team (French Équipe nationale de football du Congo) represents Republic of the Congo in men's association football and is governed by the Congolese Football Federation. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but did win the Africa Cup of Nations in 1972. They also won the All-Africa Games football tournament in 1965. The team also represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Not to be confused with DR Congo national football team.
This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Congo women's national football team.
Congo
Nickname(s)Diables Rouges
(Red Devils)
AssociationCongolese Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationUNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coachValdo Filho
CaptainAmour Loussoukou
Most capsJonas Bahamboula (56)
Top scorerThievy Bifouma (15)
Home stadiumStade Municipal de Kintélé
FIFA codeCGO
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 91 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest42 (September 2015)
Lowest144 (September 2011)
First international
French Congo 5–1 Cameroon
(Middle Congo; 1954)[2]
Biggest win
 Congo 11–0 Chad 
(Congo; 28 March 1964)
 Congo 11–0 São Tomé and Príncipe 
(Gabon; 7 July 1976)
Biggest defeat
 Malagasy Republic 8–1 Congo 
(Madagascar; 18 April 1960)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances7 (first in 1968)
Best resultChampions, 1972

History

The Congo national football team made its first ever appearance in February 1960 in a friendly against the Ivory Coast which they lost 4–2.[3] On 13 April, they defeated Reunion 4–1 in their first game to advance to the quarter-finals. In their quarter-final on 15 April, they defeated the Ivory Coast 3–2. On 17 April, they lost 5–4 to Cameroon and were beaten 8–1 by the host Madagascar in the third-place play-off on 19 April.

In April 1963 they entered another L'Amitié competition, this time in Senegal, and were drawn in a group with Tunisia, the Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritania. They lost their opener 2–0 to Tunisia on 13 April but beat the Ivory Coast 3–2 the next day. On 15 April they beat their neighbour Congo Kinshasa 2–1, and then Mauritania 11–0 two days later, but did not advance to the next round.

In July 1965 the Congo held the 1965 All-Africa Games and were drawn in a group with Mali, Uganda and Togo. They drew 1–1 with Mali on 18 July and beat Uganda 2–1 the next day. On 21 July they drew 1–1 against Togo but advanced through to the semi-finals, where they beat the Ivory Coast 1–0 on 23 July. On 25 July the Congo drew 0–0 versus Mali in the final, but won the tournament by having won ten corners in the final compared to Mali's one.

On 11 January 1967 the Congo played their first non-African opposition, defeating Romania 1–0 in a home friendly. On 19 February 1967 the Congo travelled to Tunisia for their first ever African Cup of Nations qualifier, drawing 1–1. On 2 August 1967 they hosted a qualifier against Cameroon, and defeated them 2–1 to top their qualifying group and advance to their first finals.

The finals were held in Ethiopia in January 1968 and the Congo were drawn in a group with their neighbour Zaire, Senegal and Ghana. They lost the opener to Zaire 3–0 on 12 January and two days later lost 2–1 to Senegal. On 16 January the Congo were defeated 3–1 by Ghana and were knocked out.

The Congo hosted a friendly against Romania for the second successive year on 16 June 1968 and won 4–2. On 30 July 1968 they played their first ever South American opposition, losing a home friendly 2–0 to Brazil.

In 1972, the Congo won their only African Cup of Nations title. Congo defeated host Cameroon in the semi-final 1–0 before beating Mali 3–2 to claim the championship. On that squad was arguably Congo's most famous player, François M'Pelé, who starred for PSG in the 1970s.

In qualification for the 1998 World Cup, the Congo came within a win of qualifying for the final tournament. However, after home wins over Zambia, DR Congo and South Africa, Congo lost their final match 1–0 away to South Africa and was eliminated.

Achievements
CEMAC Cup :
  • 1 Time Champion (2007)
UDEAC Championship :
  • 1 Time Champion (1990)
  • 2 Times Runners-up
Central African Games :
  • 2 Times Runners-up

Competition records

World Cup record
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1962 Did not enter Did not enter
1966 Entry not accepted by FIFA Entry not accepted by FIFA
1970 Did not enter Did not enter
1974 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 2
1978 4 1 1 2 10 5
1982 to 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
1994 Did not qualify 4 0 0 4 0 5
1998 8 4 2 2 8 6
2002 10 3 2 5 10 17
2006 12 4 2 6 12 15
2010 6 3 0 3 7 8
2014 8 4 3 1 13 4
2018 8 2 2 4 11 16
2022 To be determined
2026 To be determined
Total 0/21 62 21 13 28 74 78

Africa Cup of Nations record
Africa Cup of Nations record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1957Part of  France
1959
Played as  Congo-Brazzaville
1962Not affiliated to CAF
1963
1965
1968 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 2 8
Played as  People's Republic of the Congo
1970 Did not enter
1972 Winners 1st 5 3 1 1 9 5
1974 Fourth place 4th 5 2 1 2 7 10
1976 Did not qualify
1978 Group stage 7th 3 0 1 2 1 4
1980 Did not qualify
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990 Did not enter
Played as  Republic of the Congo
1992 Quarter-finals 5th 3 0 2 1 2 3
1994 Did not qualify
1996
1998
2000 Group stage 11th 3 0 2 1 0 1
2002 Did not qualify
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2013
2015 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 6 6
2017 Did not qualify
2019
2021 To be determined
2023
2025
Total 1 Title 7/32 26 7 8 11 27 37

African Games record
Football at the African Games has been an under-23 tournament since 1991.
African Games record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
1965-000000
1973-000000
1978-000000
1987-000000
1991–present See Congo national under-23 football team
Total4/4000000

Results and fixtures

2020
12 November 2021 AFCONQ Congo  2–0  Eswatini Brazzaville, Congo
17:00 UTC+1
  • Ibara  77'
  • Makiesse  81'
 Stadium: Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat
Referee: Joseph Odey Ogabor (Nigeria)
15 November 2021 AFCONQ Eswatini  0–0  Congo Manzini, Eswatini
15:00 UTC+2 Stadium: Mavuso Sports Centre
Referee: Hassan Mohamed Hagi (Somalia)

2021
22 March 2021 AFCONQ Congo  v  Senegal TBD, Congo
--:-- UTC+1
30 March 2021 AFCONQ Guinea-Bissau  v  Congo TBD, Guinea-Bissau
--:-- UTC+0

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Senegal and Guinea-Bissau on 13 and 17 November 2019 respectively.[4]

Caps and goals updated as of 17 November 2019 after the game against Guinea-Bissau.[5]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Christoffer Mafoumbi (1994-03-03) 3 March 1994 22 0 Morecambe
1GK Pavelh Ndzila (1995-01-12) 12 January 1995 7 0 Étoile du Congo
1GK Giscard Mavoungou (1999-11-30) 30 November 1999 0 0 AS Cheminots
2DF Dimitri Bissiki (1991-03-17) 17 March 1991 40 0 Otôho
2DF Carof Bakoua (1993-09-09) 9 September 1993 16 2 Olympique Khouribga
2DF Fernand Mayembo (1996-01-09) 9 January 1996 13 1 Le Havre
2DF Béranger Itoua (1992-05-09) 9 May 1992 11 0 Sohar SC
2DF Hugo Konongo (1992-02-14) 14 February 1992 4 0 Free agent
2DF Ravy Tsouka (1994-12-23) 23 December 1994 3 0 Helsingborg
2DF Dorvel Dibékou (1998-11-17) 17 November 1998 2 0 Étoile du Congo
2DF Elie Ikouma 0 0 CARA
3MF Amour Loussoukou (1996-12-05) 5 December 1996 13 0 Stade Tunisien
3MF Durel Avounou (1997-09-25) 25 September 1997 12 0 Caen
3MF Harvy Ossété (1999-08-18) 18 August 1999 5 0 Diables Noirs
3MF Gaius Makouta (1997-07-25) 25 July 1997 3 1 Beroe
3MF Yhoan Andzouana (1996-12-13) 13 December 1996 1 0 DAC Dunajská Streda
4FW Thievy Bifouma (1992-05-13) 13 May 1992 31 15 Shenzhen FC
4FW Junior Makiesse (1993-06-12) 12 June 1993 21 3 Tataouine
4FW Prince Ibara (1996-02-07) 7 February 1996 11 3 Neftçi Baku
4FW Silvère Ganvoula M'boussy (1996-06-22) 22 June 1996 8 2 VfL Bochum
4FW Yann Mokombo 3 1 Étoile du Congo
4FW Juvhel Tsoumou (1990-12-27) 27 December 1990 3 0 Shenyang Urban

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up for Congo in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up

DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Player has retired from international football.
SUS Suspended from the national team.

Records
As of 17 November 2020[6]
Players in bold text are still active with Congo.

Coaches

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. World Football Elo Ratings: Congo
  3. "Congo (Brazzaville) - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. 23 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. "Elim CAN 2021: Les 22 du Congo contre le Sénégal et la Guinée Bissau" (in French). africatopsports.com.
  5. "Congo".
  6. Mamrud, Roberto. "Congo-Brazzaville – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
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