Julien Kialunda (24 April 1940 – 14 September 1987) was a Congolese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. He was one of the first Congolese footballers to play professionally in Europe. He represented

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

at the

1972 African Cup of Nations The 1972 African Cup of Nations was the eighth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was hosted by Cameroon, in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala. Just l ...

Club career

Kialunda played for

Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jo ...

RSC Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the most successful ...

and

Léopold FC Royal Léopold FC is a Belgian football club from the city of Brussels. It was founded in as ''Léopold Football Club'' and over the years, numerous name changes in its history and mergers have happened with neighboring clubs who also struggled to ...

in Belgium. He was a four time Belgian league champion with Anderlecht.

International career

Kialunda represented

at the

in Cameroon, where he started in all of his team's five matches as Zaire finished fourth.

Post-career

After his retirement, Kialunda was national coach of the Zaire national team, without much success. He also owned a cafe for a while in the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

neighborhood of Matonge, known for its predominantly African population. In 1987, sick with AIDS, he decided to return to Belgium to be treated and die there. He died on 14 September the same year. A charity is founded in his memory, the "Julien Kialunda Foundation", that is engaged in worthy causes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is sponsored by professional players of African origin playing or having grew up in Belgium, like the brothers Mbo and

Émile Mpenza Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza (born 4 July 1978) is a Belgian former footballer who played as a striker. He has been capped at international level by Belgium. His older brother, Mbo, also represented Belgium. Club career Belgium, Germa ...

Mohammed Tchité Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

and Anthony Vanden Borre.

Honours

Union Saint-Gilloise * Belgian Second Division: 1963–64 Anderlecht *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

: 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1971–72 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: List of Belgian Cup finals, 1971–72, List of Belgian Cup finals, 1972–73 *

Belgian League Cup The Belgian League Cup was a Belgian association football cup created in 1973. The competition was held from 1973 by eleven clubs wanting to increase professionalism in Belgian football but lasted only three seasons before being disbanded. The tourn ...

: 1973 * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup runners-up: 1969–70

References

1940 births 1987 deaths People from Matadi Men's association football defenders Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers 1972 African Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Léopold FC players Belgian Pro League players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Democratic Republic of the Congo football managers Democratic Republic of the Congo national football team managers AIDS-related deaths in Belgium {{DRCongo-footy-bio-stub