DR Congo at the FIFA World Cup
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

DR Congo national football team The DR Congo national football team, recognised by FIFA as Congo DR (formerly known as Zaire, alternatively known as Congo-Kinshasa), represents the Democratic Republic of the Congo in men's international football and it is controlled by the ...
(formerly the Zaire national football team) have appeared in the finals of the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
on one occasion in
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
when they were known as Zaire. They were the first Sub-Saharan African team to participate in a World Cup Finals. Despite respectable performances against
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
they were defeated in all three matches with a total goal difference of 0–14.


Context

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Zairian dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
invested heavily in the national football team. It led to continental success, with
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, ...
winning the
African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
in
1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...
and in March 1974, just three months before their World Cup appearance. After qualifying for the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
in December 1973, the players were each given a car and a house by Mobutu. The disastrous displays of the Zaire national team were put into a new light in a notable 2002 interview with defender
Mwepu Ilunga Joseph Mwepu Ilunga (22 August 1949 – 8 May 2015) was a football defender from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). His name is also written as ''Alunga Mwepu''. Club career Mwepu played club football for Englebert TP Mazembe in h ...
. According to him, they were informed they would not be paid after their initial 0-2 defeat against Scotland. This led to the Zairian players refusing to play. Even though they were persuaded to show up against
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, they were unmotivated and lost 0-9, one of the highest defeats in FIFA World Cup history. "After the match, he (
Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
) sent his presidential guards to threaten us. They closed the hotel to all journalists and said that if we lost 0-4 to Brazil, none of us would be able to return home", Ilunga is quoted. They lost their final match 0–3. In an interview in 2018, the captain Raoul Kidumu affirmed the reason for the defeat against Yugoslavia. "We were aware that every team received a big qualification bonus rom FIFA, and partially passed on to the playersof half a million dollars. That was our money. We'd been asking for days. We shared the same hotel with the players of Haiti and every day we saw them arrive back with bags full of presents: jewellery, radios, clothes. Bought with their bonus. Meanwhile our Minister of Sport was running around with his bum bag. He was arranging the financial matters with FIFA. On the eve of the game with Yugoslavia he called us together for a meeting. We thought: "Finally!" Until he said he had to share something with us. "Regarding the money, it'll be sent straight to Zaire." That's when we knew we wouldn't see a penny of it. All the players were angry, including myself. We wouldn't play against Yugoslavia. A team at the world championships had never forfeited before. We were determined to be the first." Of course this angered the dictator Mobutu and half an hour later a further team meeting was called. The president was on the line and Kidumu as the team captain had to pick up the phone. "The president was angry. A strike? He said he would be watching the match the next day on TV. He told me he would be watching whether or not we entered the pitch. It sounded like a threat so we gave in. We were afraid of the consequences. Not even for ourselves, but our families back in Zaire. So we showed up for the match. But you have to understand that our morale was gone." The captain also affirmed the threats made by the president about losing the next match against Brazil by more than 3 goals. “We started the match with the intention to show the world we could play football. At half time it was only 1–0. But the coach deceived everyone. Together with the goal keeper he falsified the game. Kazadi, our goalkeeper, later confessed it. Brazil had to win by at least three goals to qualify and they arranged it. You should rewatch those last two goals. A blind wench could have stopped those balls."


The Free Kick Incident

Late in their third match, a free kick was given to Zairian opponents Brazil at a central position just outside the penalty box. Before Brazil's free kick specialist
Rivellino Roberto Rivellino (also Rivelino, ; ; born 1 January 1946) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer. He was one of the stars of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning team. Rivellino currently works as a pundit for Brazilian TV Cult ...
could take it, however, Zaire defender Mwepu Ilunga darted out of the defending wall and kicked the ball away as hard as he could. At the time, some thought of it as "a bizarre moment of African innocence" as quoted by BBC reporter
John Motson John Walker Motson (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Mot ...
. Ever since, it is regularly listed among the most hilarious and memorable moments of World Cup history. Only decades later did Ilunga explain that he was fully aware of the rules and had hoped to be sent off in an act of protest, but referee
Nicolae Rainea Nicolae Rainea (19 November 1933 – 1 April 2015), nicknamed ''The Locomotive of the Carpathians'', was a Romanian football referee and player. Highly regarded throughout the world, he is considered one of the best whistles of his generation an ...
only showed him a yellow card.


Aftermath

The Yugoslav coach Vidinić did not return to Zaire after the championships but went straight back to his home country. The players, rather than being received by luxurious coach as had been the case after their Africa Cup triumph, had an empty army truck waiting for them. They were driven straight to the presidential palace, where Mobutu was waiting for them. The captain said "There he gave us an ear full. He looked at us over the rim of his glasses, like an angry dad to his children: "So you thought you would rebel? I gave you all a house and a car!". He was furious. Not one player dared to speak. It was deathly quiet. In the end I softly asked to have the word and I apologised for what happened. It's the only thing I could have done. He finished with "Next time I'll throw you all in jail."" As punishment none of the players could leave the country. A list in the port and the airport of their names was displayed with "Forbidden to leave the country". This scuppered the players prospects of moves to European clubs with the offers that came in after the World cup. After the World cup Mobutu lost interest in football and stopped actively using the national team as a political tool for promoting his regime. One of the players ended up being homeless. In 2012 a charity raised money for the surviving players to receive a small pension every month of a couple of hundred dollars.


Record at the FIFA World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided via
penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
''


By Match


Record by Opponent


Zaire at West Germany 1974


Squad

Head coach:
Blagoje Vidinić Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...


Group 2

*
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
beat
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, who in turn beat
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, by better goal difference ---- ----


Record players

Ten players were fielded by head coach Vidinić on all three occasions, making them record players for the DR Congo to this day.


See also

*
African nations at the FIFA World Cup Association football is the most popular sport in nearly every African country, and thirteen members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have competed at the sport's biggest event – the men's FIFA World Cup. The highest ranked resu ...
* DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations


References

{{Countries at the FIFA World Cup Countries at the FIFA World Cup
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...