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	57 3 (4 February 2016)
Highest	42 (September 2015)
Lowest	139 (April 1996)
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	6 (first in 1968)
Best result	Winners: 1972

The Congo national football team, nicknamed the Diables Rouges (Red Devils), is the national team of the Republic of the Congo and is controlled 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	TBD
2019
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

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

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)

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)

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)

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 final squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations was announced on 7 January 2015.^[2]

Caps and goals, updated on 31 January 2015 after the game against Congo DR.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Christoffer Mafoumbi	(1994-03-03) 3 March 1994 (age 30)	14	0	Vereya Stara Zagora
16	1GK	Chancel Massa	(1985-08-28) 28 August 1985 (age 38)	12	0	Léopards
22	1GK	Pavelh Ndzila	(1995-01-12) 12 January 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Étoile du Congo

2	2DF	Francis N'Ganga	(1985-06-16) 16 June 1985 (age 39)	25	3	Charleroi
3	2DF	Igor N'Ganga	(1987-04-14) 14 April 1987 (age 37)	13	0	Aarau
4	2DF	Boris Moubhibo	(1988-10-25) 25 October 1988 (age 35)	25	1	Léopards
5	2DF	Arnold Bouka Moutou	(1988-11-28) 28 November 1988 (age 35)	14	0	Angers
6	2DF	Dimitri Bissiki	(1991-03-17) 17 March 1991 (age 33)	21	0	Léopards
18	2DF	Marvin Baudry	(1990-01-26) 26 January 1990 (age 34)	17	1	Zulte Waregem
23	2DF	Atoni Mavoungou	(1996-12-22) 22 December 1996 (age 27)	1	0	ACNFF

7	3MF	Prince Oniangué	(1988-11-04) 4 November 1988 (age 35)	30	6	Reims
8	3MF	Delvin N'Dinga	(1988-03-14) 14 March 1988 (age 36)	42	1	Lokomotiv Moscow
14	3MF	Césaire Gandzé	(1989-03-06) 6 March 1989 (age 35)	24	1	Léopards
17	3MF	Chris Malonga	(1987-07-11) 11 July 1987 (age 37)	21	2	Laval
20	3MF	Hardy Binguila	(1996-07-17) 17 July 1996 (age 28)	11	3	Auxerre
21	3MF	Sagesse Babélé	(1993-02-13) 13 February 1993 (age 31)	16	0	Léopards

9	4FW	Silvère Ganvoula M'boussy	(1996-06-22) 22 June 1996 (age 28)	4	1	Elazığspor
10	4FW	Férébory Doré	(1989-01-21) 21 January 1989 (age 35)	26	8	Angers
11	4FW	Fabrice N'Guessi	(1988-02-27) 27 February 1988 (age 36)	26	5	Wydad Casablanca
12	4FW	Francis Litsingi	(1986-09-10) 10 September 1986 (age 37)	9	0	Gaziantep BB
13	4FW	Thievy Bifouma	(1992-05-13) 13 May 1992 (age 32)	16	10	Reims
15	4FW	Ladislas Douniama	(1986-05-24) 24 May 1986 (age 38)	28	4	RC Strasbourg
19	4FW	Dominique Malonga	(1989-01-08) 8 January 1989 (age 35)	4	0	Pro Vercelli

Recent call-ups

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Bernard Itoua	(1988-09-07) 7 September 1988 (age 35)	0	0	Platanias	v. Sudan, 19 November 2014
DF	Grâce Itoua	(1995-04-12) 12 April 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Kondzo	v. Sudan, 19 November 2014

MF	Scott Bitsindou	(1996-05-11) 11 May 1996 (age 28)	0	0	Anderlecht	2015 Africa Cup of Nations, preliminary squad
MF	Christopher Maboulou	(1990-03-19) 19 March 1990 (age 34)	0	0	Bastia	2015 Africa Cup of Nations, preliminary squad
MF	Jordan Massengo	(1990-01-31) 31 January 1990 (age 34)	0	0	Mons	2015 Africa Cup of Nations, preliminary squad
MF	Jusly Gitel Boukama-Kaya	(1993-02-05) 5 February 1993 (age 31)	9	0	Recreativo do Libolo	v. Sudan, 19 November 2014

FW	Dzon Delarge	(1990-06-24) 24 June 1990 (age 34)	8	1	Slovan Liberec	v. Sudan, 19 November 2014
FW	Kevin Koubemba	(1993-03-23) 23 March 1993 (age 31)	4	0	Brest	v. Sudan, 19 November 2014
FW	Kader Bidimbou	(1996-02-20) 20 February 1996 (age 28)	0	0	Léopards	v. Sudan, 19 November 2014

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

^ http://rsssf.com/tablesk/kong-intres.html
^ "Avec Oniangue, sans Maboulou" (in French). francefootball.fr. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.

External links

Official site

[1] ttp://rsssf.com/tablesk/kong-intres.html

[2] "Avec Oniangue, sans Maboulou" (in French). francefootball.fr. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.

[1]

[2]

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