DR Congo
COD · CAF
Head Coach
Sébastien Desabre
Sébastien Desabre leads DR Congo into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, tasked with guiding the squad through a competitive Group K and beyond. The coaching staff has been preparing tactical approaches tailored to the expanded 48-team tournament format.
Group Stage Venue
San Francisco
DR Congo will play their group stage matches in San Francisco. The 2026 World Cup is the first to be hosted across three nations — the United States, Mexico, and Canada — with matches spread across 16 world-class venues.
Squad (26 players)
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards
Recent Form & Current State
DR Congo qualified through CAF qualification under Sébastien Desabre. They reached the AFCON 2024 semifinals, their best result in decades. The Leopards have experienced a renaissance with talented players emerging across European leagues.
Form heading into a major tournament is often a key indicator of how far a team can progress. DR Congo, currently ranked #46 in the FIFA World Rankings, will look to carry momentum from their recent qualifying and friendly campaigns into the group stage. Consistency in results and squad cohesion built during the qualification cycle will be vital assets. The CAFrepresentatives will be eager to demonstrate their quality on the world's biggest stage in 2026.
World Cup History
DR Congo (then Zaire) appeared in one World Cup in 1974 in West Germany. They lost all three matches, including a 9-0 defeat to Yugoslavia. This will be their second ever World Cup appearance after a 52-year wait, under their new name.
The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of international football, and DR Congo's history in the competition provides important context for their 2026 campaign. With the tournament expanding to 48 teams for the first time, every nation faces both new opportunities and new challenges in the revamped group stage format featuring groups of four with the top two advancing to a 32-team knockout round. DR Congo will aim to write a new chapter in their World Cup story at this historic edition of the tournament.
Group K Opponents
DR Congo faces Portugal and Colombia and Uzbekistan in Group K. The top two teams from each group advance to the Round of 32. Group dynamics, head-to-head records, and tactical matchups will all play a role in determining which teams progress from this stage.