March 27 : The Democratic Republic of Congo are looking to put a half-century wait behind them and return to the World Cup finals via a playoff against Jamaica on Tuesday.
It was when the country was known as Zaire that the Congolese last competed at the finals, becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to qualify for the finals but leaving the 1974 tournament in West Germany with a shattered reputation.
Now they have a chance to put that right if they overcome the Reggae Boyz in Guadalajara on Tuesday in the inter-confederation playoff.
Jamaica beat New Caledonia 1-0 in the Mexican city on Friday to book a place against DR Congo, who were seeded directly into the playoff decider.
The Congolese advanced after winning a similar playoff in Morocco in November where they first overcame Cameroon and then edged past Nigeria in a strong display of their potential, having finished narrowly behind Senegal in their African qualifying group.
“We’re really fired up,” said coach Sebastien Desabre of the opportunity to compete at the finals in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. in June.
“We’re still on course to meet our main objective. That’s the goal we set ourselves when I took this job three and a half years ago. This final will be our 13th match since our qualifying campaign began,” he added.
Under Desabre, the side were semi-finalists at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in early 2024 but went out in the last 16 at the latest edition of the African championship in Morocco in January.
The Congolese are boosted by the return from injury of key striker Yoane Wissa, who missed the tournament in Morocco but scored in a 2-0 win over Bermuda in a warm-up international in Guadalajara on Wednesday.
“We’re lucky enough to have talented players who ply their trade at top clubs,” added Desabre.
“Above all, everyone has really bought into the project we’ve been building together. Everyone is pulling in the same direction to achieve a common goal.
“We can make it tough for our opponents because we play as a unit: our forwards track back, our defenders push forward, and everyone pulls together, as if they were soldiers going into battle for their country,” the French-born coach said.
If they qualify, it will increase to 10 the number of African teams at the World Cup, where the field has been expanded to 48 teams.
In 1974, they were the sole African representative and were handed a 9-0 defeat by Yugoslavia. They also lost to Brazil and Scotland. Their approach was derided as naive, and after they got home, the team was disbanded.
But some 52 years later, they have the opportunity to expunge any lingering negativity.
The winner of the DR Congo-Jamaica clash competes in Group K at the World Cup, kicking off against Portugal in Houston on June 17, then playing Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23, and Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 27.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
