Congo national football team

Congo

Nickname(s)	Diables Rouges (Red Devils)
Association	Fédération Congolaise de Football
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coach	Pierre Lechantre
Captain	Prince Oniangué
Home stadium	Stade Municipal de Kintélé
FIFA code	CGO
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	70 15 (24 November 2016)
Highest	42 (September 2015)
Lowest	144 (September 2011)
Elo ranking
Current	96
Highest	37 (July 1972)
Lowest	133 (4 September 2011)
First international
Ivory Coast 4–2 Congo (February 1960)
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
Appearances	7 (first in 1968)
Best result	Champions, 1972

The Congo national football team, nicknamed the Diables Rouges (Red Devils), is the national team of the Republic of the Congo and is run by the Fédération Congolaise de Football. 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.

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.^[1] 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

• 1930 to 1962 – Did not enter
• 1966 – Entry not accepted by FIFA
• 1970 – Did not enter
• 1974 to 1978 – Did not qualify
• 1982 to 1990 – Did not enter
• 1994 to 2014 – Did not qualify

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations Record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1968	Group Stage	7th	3	0	0	3	2	8
1970	Did Not Enter
1972	Winners	1st	5	3	1	1	9	5
1974	Semi-Finals	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
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	TBD
2021
2023

Results and fixtures

The following matches were played or are scheduled to be played by the national team in the current or upcoming seasons.

2015

Cape Verde  v Congo 

10 January 2015 Friendly	Cape Verde	3–2	Congo	Dakar, Senegal
16:00 UTC+0	N'Ganga  53' (o.g.) Kuca  57' Djaniny  70'	Report	Thievy  15' Oniangué  30'	Stadium: Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor

Equatorial Guinea  v Congo 

17 January 2015 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group Stage	Equatorial Guinea	1–1	Congo	Bata, Equatorial Guinea
16:00 UTC+0	Nsue  16'	Report	Thievy  87'	Stadium: Estadio de Bata Attendance: 40,245 Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

Gabon  v Congo 

21 January 2015 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group Stage	Gabon	0–1	Congo	Bata, Equatorial Guinea
19:00 UTC+0		Report	Oniangué  48'	Stadium: Estadio de Bata Attendance: 34,782 Referee: Victor Gomes (South Africa)

Congo  v Burkina Faso 

25 January 2015 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group Stage	Congo	2–1	Burkina Faso	Ebebiyín, Equatorial Guinea
18:00 UTC+0	Thievy  51' Ondama  87'	Report	Bancé  86'	Stadium: Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín Attendance: 7,945 Referee: Joseph Lamptey (Ghana)

Congo  v DR Congo 

31 January 2015 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-final	Congo	2–4	DR Congo	Bata, Equatorial Guinea
16:00 UTC+0	Doré  55' Thievy  62'	Report	Mbokani  65', 90+1' Bokila  75' Kimwaki  81'	Stadium: Estadio de Bata Attendance: 7,945 Referee: Bernard Camille (Seychelles)

Current squad

The following players were called up for a friendly against Morocco on 27 May 2016.^[2] Caps and goals updated as of 27 May 2016 after the game against Morocco.^[3]

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Christoffer Mafoumbi	3 March 1994	15	0	Vereya Stara Zagora
	GK	Pavelh Ndzila	12 January 1995	2	0	Étoile du Congo
	GK	Wolfrigon Mongondza Ngobo	8 April 1990	0	0	Diables Noirs
	DF	Francis N'Ganga	16 June 1985	37	3	Charleroi
	DF	Dimitri Bissiki	17 March 1991	24	0	Léopards
	DF	Boris Moubhio	25 October 1988	20	1	Léopards
	DF	Maël Lépicier	14 January 1986	19	0	Roeselare
	DF	Marvin Baudry	26 January 1990	17	0	Zulte Waregem
	DF	Arnold Bouka Moutou	28 November 1988	14	0	Dijon
	DF	Clévid Dikamona	23 June 1990	1	0	Bourg-en-Bresse
	MF	Delvin N'Dinga	14 March 1988	43	1	Lokomotiv Moscow
	MF	Prince Oniangué	4 November 1988	31	5	Wolverhampton Wanderers
	MF	Chris Malonga	11 July 1987	24	2	Laval
	MF	Sagesse Babélé	13 February 1993	15	0	Khaleej
	MF	Durel Avounou	25 September 1997	4	0	Caen
	MF	Merveil Ndockyt	20 July 1998	5	0	KF Tirana
	MF	Jordan Massengo	31 January 1990	3	2	Union SG
	MF	Junior Loussoukou	5 December 1996	0	0	ACNFF
	FW	Fabrice Ondama	27 February 1988	30	4	Wydad Casablanca
	FW	Thievy Bifouma	13 May 1992	16	9	Bastia
	FW	Dominique Malonga	8 January 1989	7	0	Pro Vercelli
	FW	Kevin Koubemba	23 March 1993	5	0	Sint-Truidense
	FW	Giovani Ipamy	27 September 1994	2	0	Étoile du Congo
	FW	Prince Ibara	7 February 1996	1	0	CA Bizertin

Recent call-ups

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Brice Samba	25 April 1994	0	0	Nancy	v.  Benin, 13 October 2015
GK	Chancel Massa	28 August 1985	13	0	CARA Brazzaville	v.  Guinea-Bissau, 5 September 2015
DF	Cosme Mavoungou	22 December 1996	2	0	Diables Noirs	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
DF	Gloire Yila Dibata	25 April 1990	2	0	Léopards	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
DF	Hugo Konongo	14 February 1992	1	0	Créteil	v.  Guinea-Bissau, 5 September 2015
MF	Hardy Binguila	17 July 1996	11	2	Auxerre	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
MF	Moise Nkounkou	2 August 1996	10	1	KF Tirana	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
MF	Carof Bakoua	9 September 1993	5	0	Léopards	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
MF	Prestone Lakolo	13 April 1989	9	0	Léopards	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
MF	Dua Ankira	4 December 1994	4	0	Léopards	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
MF	Deldy Ngoyi	9 April 1997	2	0	Léopards	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
MF	Noël Mokouka	25 December 1994	1	0	AS Cheminots	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
MF	Césaire Gandzé	6 March 1989	23	1	DSK Shivajians F.C.	v.  Benin, 13 October 2015
MF	Dylan Bahamboula	22 May 1995	0	0	Paris FC	v.  Benin, 13 October 2015
MF	Philtzgerald M'Baka	24 January 1993	0	0	South Melbourne	v.  Benin, 13 October 2015
MF	Héritier Ngouelou	15 January 1990	0	0	Léopards	v.  Benin, 13 October 2015
MF	Jules Iloki	14 January 1992	0	0	Nantes	v.  Guinea-Bissau, 5 September 2015
FW	Bersyl Obassi	29 March 1996	5	0	Étoile du Congo	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
FW	Junior Makiessé	12 June 1993	4	0	Léopards	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
FW	Kader Bidimbou	20 February 1996	4	0	Léopards	v.  Ethiopia, 17 November 2015
FW	Percy Akoli	22 January 1993	3	0	CARA Brazzaville	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
FW	Bermagin Kangou	21 May 1994	1	0	Diables Noirs	v.  Cameroon, 31 October 2015
FW	Férébory Doré	21 January 1989	26	8	Angers	v.  Benin, 13 October 2015
FW	Francis Litsingi	10 September 1986	9	0	Zbrojovka Brno	v.  Guinea-Bissau, 5 September 2015

^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury

Coaches

Amoyen Bibanzulu (1972) Cicerone Manolache (1972–1974) Yvon Goujon (1986–1987) Noël Minga (1992–1993) David Memy (1997–1998) Alain Nestor Ngouinda (1998–1999) David Memy (1999–2000) Camille Ngakosso (2000) Gaston Tchangana (2001) Noël Minga (2001)

Eugen Moldovan (2001–2002) Alain Nestor Ngouinda (2002) Claude Andrey (2002–2003) Jean-Paul Bernard (2003) Michel Hidalgo (2004) Christian Létard (2004–2005) Gaston Tchangana (2005–2006) Noël Tosi (2006–2007)

Gaston Tchangana (2007–2008) Ivica Todorov (2008–2010) Robert Corfou (2010–2011) Camille Ngakosso (2011) Jean-Guy Wallemme (2011–2012) Kamel Djabour (2012–13) Claude Le Roy (2013–15) Pierre Lechantre (2016–)

References

1. http://rsssf.com/tablesk/kong-intres.html
2. http://drcpf.net/match-live-2/?ytmatchslug:maroc-vs-rd-congo-2016-05-28
3. "Congo".

External links

• Official site