Former Uganda Cranes Head Coach Sébastien Desabre has led the DR Congo national football team to a historic return to the FIFA World Cup after 52 years, following a hard-fought 1-0 extra-time victory over Jamaica national football team.
The decisive moment came deep into extra time when defender Axel Tuanzebe rose to meet a corner kick and scored in the 100th minute, sealing a dramatic win after a goalless 90 minutes.
DR Congo’s qualification caps an impressive playoff campaign in which they eliminated Cameroon national football team and Nigeria national football team before overcoming Jamaica in the final hurdle.
The Leopards will now return to football’s biggest stage for the first time since 1974, when the country competed as Zaire. Their qualification marks a major milestone and signals a new era for Congolese football.
The African qualifiers for the 2026 tournament were fiercely contested, with nine teams securing automatic spots after a long campaign of over 250 matches played across two years. Among the standout stories were Cape Verde national football team reaching their first-ever World Cup, while traditional powerhouses like Cameroon and Nigeria fell short.
The nine African nations that booked automatic qualification are Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, Cape Verde, Senegal, South Africa, and Ivory Coast.
