After more than half a century of waiting, the Democratic Republic of Congo has secured its spot at the men’s FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974, sparking wild, rain-soaked celebrations across the capital Kinshasa that stretched long into Tuesday night.
The Leopards, as the national team is nicknamed, claimed their historic place in the 2026 World Cup with a dramatic 1-0 extra-time victory over Jamaica in the intercontinental playoff held in Guadalajara, Mexico. Burnley Premier League defender Axel Tuanzebe scored the all-important winning goal that sealed the result, cementing his status as a national hero overnight.
This summer’s World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will see DR Congo drawn into Group K alongside Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan. It marks only the second time the Central African nation has ever qualified for the global tournament; its first appearance came in 1974, when the country competed under the name Zaire and exited the group stage after losses to Scotland, Yugoslavia and Brazil.
By the evening of the playoff match, hundreds of supporters had already gathered in Kinshasa’s central public square to watch the game together, many having donned the team’s iconic sky-blue jerseys from the early hours of the day. Even when heavy rain began pouring down heavily throughout the 120 minutes of tense play, fans refused to leave, waiting patiently for the final whistle. The moment the referee blew the final horn, the packed square erupted into roars of celebration, with fans dancing and cheering in the downpour.
Across the entire city of 17 million, the final result was met with a thunderous chorus of celebration: drivers honked their car horns nonstop, residents banged on pots and pans from their windows, and fans blew whistles into the late hours of the night. Many fans draped themselves in the DRC national flag, even as the fabric became soaked through by the persistent rain, declaring an unofficial national holiday the next day and vowing to celebrate straight through to dawn.
What makes this moment even more meaningful is that it comes as a rare unifying joy for a country that has been marked by decades of regional conflict and the recent resurgence of the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group. For supporters from even conflict-affected regions of the country, the victory offers a much-needed break from instability and a moment of shared national pride. Standing in the pouring rain in Kinshasa, Merou, a fan from the eastern DRC city of Goma, which was seized by M23 in early 2025, called the qualification truly exceptional.
“We are very proud of the Leopards today for this feat,” he said. “This victory will unify the Congo. We hope the whole country will benefit from it.”
Another supporter, Maclain, echoed that sentiment, noting the country had earned this moment of collective happiness after years of violence and division. “We deserve a moment of happiness, away from the gunfire. We need to come together too,” he said.
The qualification run itself was already a dramatic underdog story: the Leopards defied all expectations to eliminate African football powerhouses Nigeria and Cameroon earlier in the qualification process, before beating Jamaica to seal their historic spot at the World Cup.