How DR Congo’s football team became a rare source of national unity

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had not been at a World Cup finals tournament for 52 years – but they are making up for lost time in North America. After a draw against Portugal, a narrow defeat by Colombia and a 3-1 victory against Uzbekistan – inspired by Yoane Wissa’s two goals – they have already made history by booking a place in the knockout phase. Now they face England.

“We deserve to play England,” Wissa said when the match-up had been confirmed. “We have worked hard for this. You know, it’s not easy in our country. There is war in eastern Congo. Every time we wear this shirt, we think about them.”

It was pertinent that the Newcastle striker’s first thoughts after the Uzbekistan game were not about himself. They were about home. The 29-year-old knows a thing or two about the situation there. In 2022 he spent part of his holiday in the North Kivu region. For a player of his stature, it was an unusual decision. Eastern Congo is all too often reduced to images of war, displacement, and minerals extracted from blood-soaked soil. Wissa used his platform to showcase something different: green hills, volcanic landscapes, lakes and endemic wildlife, revealing a part of the country with a beauty that rarely exists in the global imagination. He reminded people that Kivu is home to some of Africa’s most breathtaking landscapes.

In many ways, it is a paradise where people have been condemned to live through hell. That gesture mattered. Across Kivu, Wissa is admired not only because he scores Premier League goals. He is loved because he has reminded people that their region is so much more than a battlefield. And for the DRC, this World Cup has never only been about football.

From the outside it is difficult to grasp the country’s actual scale. Spanning 905,355 square miles, it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the volcanoes and highlands bordering Rwanda and Uganda in the east. This territory is roughly 10 times the size of the UK located in the heart of Africa. The population is 116 million people.

The provinces of North and South Kivu, including the big cities of Goma and Bukavu, are partially occupied by the M23 rebel movement, which is backed by Rwanda and governs the area with a parallel administration. They are separated from the capital Kinshasa by almost 2,500 kilometres of rainforest, rivers and poor roads.

Many people there have never visited the capital. Similarly, most people in Kinshasa have never travelled east. They often speak different first languages. Yet many still refer to the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, where the national team play, as “home”. This single word says almost everything about what this national team have become.

The DRC is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Africa. There are hundreds of ethnic communities. And hundreds of languages and dialects. Four national languages have been adopted to help create cohesion. There are different cuisines, customs and histories. And today, profound political and societal fractures.The biggest story here is not a sporting one. It is what the Leopards have done for their country.

Eastern Congo has spent decades living through successive wars. Many people there have long felt abandoned by Kinshasa. Whenever violence intensifies, discussions about federalism, autonomy and the country’s fragmentation resurface. Yet, whenever the Leopards play, those divisions seem to pause.

Following the draw with Portugal, celebrations erupted not only in Kinshasa but also in Lubumbashi – in the Katanga region, which has its own secession history – as well as in Goma and Bukavu. The same happened again after the victory against Uzbekistan, but with even greater intensity.

Veron Mosengo Omba, the newly elected president of the Congolese Football Federation and former general secretary of the Confederation of African Football, said the scenes had moved him: “Even in the occupied areas of eastern Congo, you see people coming out into the streets to dance. It’s incredible … What these young players have given us is an unexpected gift.”

The DRC’s president, Félix Tshisekedi, struck a similar note. “Every victory, every flag raised, strengthens our pride, our national identity and the invisible foundations of our unity,” he said.

People have sung the national anthem together. They have waved Congolese flags. They have danced late into the night. Whether under occupation or not, they have proclaimed their Congolese identity with pride. If only briefly, football has achieved what politics has been struggling to do for decades.

In today’s DRC, very few institutions command trust across the country’s political, regional, and ethnic divides. The national football team might be the most efficient of them all. And the squad itself reflects a solid bridge between the country and its diaspora.

Twenty-one of the 26 players selected for this World Cup grew up outside the DRC. Aaron Wan‑Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe and Aaron Tshibola all played for England youth teams before representing the Leopards and will now face the Three Lions on Wednesday . Others were brought up in Belgium, France or Switzerland.

For years members of the diaspora have been criticised for being disconnected from the daily struggles of their home country but, as it turns out, they are now the ones supporting the team in North America.

While the players arrived safely in the US, many supporters who had waited their entire lives for this moment were unable to do so. The Trump administration’s visa restrictions affecting several countries, including the DRC, meant that the majority of fans wanting to travel were unable to attend the tournament. Accredited journalists also faced enormous difficulties obtaining visas.

the team have therefore found themselves largely backed by the US diaspora: Congolese communities already living in North America. Houston, where the Leopards set up their base, has became an extension of Kinshasa. Thousands came. Many drove for hours. Others crossed state borders to ensure the players would not feel alone.

A team made up largely of players living abroad was carried by supporters who also live outside the country. Perhaps no image captures contemporary Congo better.

Whatever happens against Thomas Tuchel’s team, this World Cup has already been a success. Not just because the Leopards made it to the round of 32. It is also because, for a few weeks, football reminded millions of people that, despite war, division, politics and history, they still belong to the same story: a shared DRC.