The Congo national football team (Kikongo: Ekipe ya nkweso ya nsi ya Kongo) represents the 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 is also a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
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.[4] 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.
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
Paul Ebondzibato (1962–1964)
Vasily Sokolov (1964–1965) Paul Ebondzibato (1965–1970)
Adolphe Bibanzoulou (1970–1973) Robert Ndoudi (1973–1974).svg/1280px-Flag_of_Romania_(1965%E2%80%931989).svg.png){kind=small}
Cicerone Manolache (1974–1976).svg/1280px-Flag_of_Yugoslavia_(1946-1992).svg.png){kind=small}
Zoran Ristić (1984)
Yvon Goujon (1986–1987) Noël Minga (1992–1993) David Mémy (1997–1998).svg/1280px-Flag_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo_(1997%E2%80%932003).svg.png){kind=small}
Alain Nestor Ngouinda (1998–1999) David Mémy (1999–2000) Camille Ngakosso (2000) Gaston Tchangana (2001) Noël Minga (2001)
Eugen Moldovan (2001–2002) Alain Nestor Ngouinda (2002).svg/1280px-Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svg.png){kind=small}
Claude Andrey (2002–2003)
Tahseen Jabbary (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).svg/1280px-Flag_of_Serbia_(2004%E2%80%932010).svg.png){kind=small}
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) Barthélémy Ngatsono (2016–17) Sébastien Migné (2017–18)
Valdo Filho (2018–2021).svg/1280px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small}
Paul Put (2021–2023) Isaac Ngata (2023-present)The following players were called-up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Niger and Morocco on 6 and 11 June 2024 respectively.[6]
Caps and goals are correct as of 12 June 2024, after the match against Morocco.[7]
The following players were called up for Congo in the last 12 months.
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