West Ham United’s English-born right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been named in a 26-man squad by Democratic Republic of Congo for friendlies in June, setting him up for a possible trip to the next Africa Cup of Nations and potentially the 2026 World Cup.
The 27-year-old Wan-Bissaka had turned down previous approaches from the Congolese to play for them, notably ahead of last year’s Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast.
His family hails from DR Congo but he has played for England at under-21 level and earned a first senior England call-up at the start of the 2019-20 season, having made an impressive start with Manchester United following a move from Crystal Palace.
However, he had to withdraw from the England squad through injury and never got called up again.
Wan-Bissaka, who joined Premier League side West Ham last year, would have to switch international allegiance to play for the Congolese but FIFA’s latest list of players who have been allowed to make nationality changes does not include him.
DR Congo, under coach Sebastien Desabre, are using the two friendly matches in Orleans, France against Mali on June 5 and Madagascar three days later to prepare for the resumption of the World Cup qualifiers, where they lead Senegal by a point at the top of Group B and host them in a key match in September.
The winners of each group qualify directly for the finals.
DR Congo will also compete at the Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco at the end of the year, drawn in the same group with Benin, Botswana and Senegal.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)
