Democratic Republic of Congo has qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974 after defeating Jamaica 1-0 in an inter-confederation playoff on Tuesday.
Axel Tuanzebe scored the winning goal in extra time, bundling the ball over the line from a corner in the 100th minute. The goal was briefly reviewed for a possible handball before being confirmed.
Former Uganda Cranes coach Sébastien Desabre will take much credit for the achievement, his latest since he was appointed in August 2022.
Desabre also took the side to the 2023 AFCON semifinals where theh were eliminated by hosts and eventual winners Ivory Coast.
The Leopards now make it 10 nations from Africa to the World Cup due to be played in June/July in United States, Mexico and Canada, joining Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Ghana and Cape Verde who qualified automatically.
DR Congo finished second behind Senegal in Group B of the qualifiers, and had done enough to finish among the four best runners up across the nine groups to enter the second round.
They beat Cameroon in the semifinals before beating Nigeria after shootouts in the final to qualify for the Inter Confederation playoffs.
They now enter the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Group K alongside Colombia, Portugal and Uzbekistan.
