Congo national football team
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| Nickname(s) |
Diables Rouges (Red Devils) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Fédération Congolaise de Football | ||
| Sub-confederation | UNIFFAC (Central Africa) | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Head coach | Claude Le Roy | ||
| Captain | Prince Oniangué | ||
| Home stadium | Stade de la Revolution | ||
| FIFA code | CGO | ||
| FIFA ranking |
49  3 (9 April 2015) | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 48 (September 2014) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 139 (April 1996) | ||
| Elo ranking | 96 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 37 (July 1972) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 133 (4 September 2011) | ||
| |||
| 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 |
.svg.png){kind=small} 1968 |
Group Stage | 7th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
.svg.png){kind=small} 1970 |
Did Not Enter | |||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} 1972 |
Winners | 1st | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
.svg.png){kind=small} 1974 |
Semi-Finals | 4th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
.svg.png){kind=small} 1976 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
 1978 |
Group Stage | 7th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
 1980 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} 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
| Friendly 10 January 2015 | 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 | ||
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group Stage 17 January 2015 | 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) | ||
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group Stage 21 January 2015 | 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) | |||
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group Stage 25 January 2015 | 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) | ||
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-final 31 January 2015 | 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.
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Recent call-ups
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Coaches
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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
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Congo national football team. |
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