The dream of Congolese people for 2022 FIFA World Cup is coming closer, with the revival of the once African football power

I used to talk much about football in Asia and Europe, so when it comes to Africa, literally it is a region where knowledge about football vary. Of course, Africa has over 55 countries with different cultures and norms, especially even more relevant with the north-south divide from the Sahara desert. So far, North and West Africa have been the most successful regions of Africa, and also frequent participants in the FIFA World Cup. Southern and Central Africa, on the other hand, do have teams that take parts in World Cup and have African glories, though limited compared to North and West Africa. Only East Africa has little success, with Sudan and Ethiopia being the only two African champions, they have not even taken part in a World Cup.

I think it is a perfect time to have a short glimpse, but hopeful, about one nation, for a long time, ravaged by wars and instabilities, but now is finding back where it belongs, to progress. Yes, this is DR Congo - the second largest country in Africa.

A hard modern days

Why do I have such a deep feeling about DR Congo? When you look at the contemporary history of the country, it was colonised by the Belgians, which was given as a gift for King Leopold II, who treated the colony as a toy of oppression and intolerance. Only when the King died in 1909 that the colony was integrated into the Belgian administration, but the damage was done.

The people of Belgian Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 under Patrice Lumumba, who is now revered as a national hero in his country. His death, a year later, by the hand of Mobutu Sese Seko, future dictator of the former Belgian colony, shattered the country's hope - the dictator ruled his country with an iron fist, renamed it Zaire in 1971 while aligning with the United States and the West for his anti-communist stance. Unfortunately, money flew to Zaire didn't come to develop, but rather to plunder the nation for Mobutu's richness. This is when people became disillusioned with Mobutu's authoritarianism, but only after the Cold War that Mobutu's regime fell in 1997 before he subsequently died in Morocco. The country's name also changed from Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) if you wonder.

Sadly, Mobutu's death unravelled an even darker history - it was torn by warring factions before being unified under the hand of Laurent Kabila, who established the Kabila dynasty for the next 20 years. His son, Joseph (ruling DR Congo from 2001-2019), was notorious for widespread corruption and mismanagement, further plundered the country into deep poverty. The Kabila regime subsequently became no different from the Mobutu regime, Joseph Kabila had to face widespread protests during his rule, but he maintained an iron grip until 2018 when his unpopularity reached his palace. He subsequently announced he would step down - and he did, allowing a free election to happen in DR Congo for the first time ever in 2019, with Félix Tshisekedi became the first elected DR Congo President in history of the nation.

It's sad to see because DR Congo itself has the largest natural resources in Africa. DR Congo sits in over a billion tons of gold, jade, silver, uranium, timber, oil, coffee, diamonds, tin ore, etc. If these resources had been used for the right investments, DR Congo would have become the most powerful nation in Africa. Instead, its population barely get enough electricity, roads are horrible, wages are below standard. Not to mention many war-torn regions in the east have benefitted little from the previous DR Congolese governments.

With Tshisekedi, he has a lot of jobs to do.

Football brings hope

Mobutu's failed tool

But DR Congolese people nonetheless do have the lights to see: football. The national football team of this country has a prideful past when it was named Zaire.

Zaire team in 1974, the only time the country came to a World Cup.

During the late 1960s, Mobutu realised he could use football to enhance his popularity and power. Unfortunately, while Mobutu invested billions to build a national team in respect, he also embezzled billions of others from football projects to enrich himself. At that time, there were only two nations from Africa to have been to the World Cup, and all were North Africans: Egypt and Morocco.

In the 1974 qualifiers, things would turn dreamy for Zaire: they overcame Zambia and Morocco in decisive games to qualify for the country's first, and still only, FIFA World Cup, in West Germany. Well, not so long. Mobutu's pleasure was followed by an even greater corruption of his autocratic government, but no player from team Zaire that travelled to West Germany got informed until the first game against Scotland, where Zaire lost 0-2. After the match, a staff member told the players that they would not receive bonus money as expected, letting these players run riot over Mobutu's regenerating attitude. Mobutu responded with threats, and the Zairians lost morale in their second game against Yugoslavia, where they suffered a denting 0-9 loss. Mobutu became madder, he responded that he would ban these players from returning home if they lost by more than four goals. Zaire's final game, against then-world champions Brazil, ended with a 0-3 loss. The match against Brazil was infamous due to Mwepu Ilunga dashed out of the defensive wall and cleared the ball as far as he could. John Motson referred to it as a case of typical African football, though the reality was far from being a joke: Ilunga stated that he knew the rule but did it anyway to protest the high authority in his home country. Then, some members of Zaire were found conspired with Brazil to send Brazil ahead of Scotland - Zairian players believed Scottish players were racist against Zairians and Blacks during the 0-2 loss.

Zaire team returned home with nothing to offer outside disappointment. Mobutu's army bus waited for the players, before ranting with a bunch of slurs against his players. One player of this 1974 side, Ndaye Mulamba, even ended up homeless and begging in South African streets before died in 2019. Ilunga, who stood against Mobutu's nepotism, remained in football, and his death in 2015 was mourned by many famous DR Congolese footballers.

Eventually, Mobutu decided that football would be no longer on his whitewashing program. This was when the country's football went downhill, with the team's best result was a third-place finish in the 1998 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Burkina Faso.

The rebirth of a football nation

By the mid-2000s, DR Congo has witnessed a moment of its resurgence. The country had come close to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup also in Germany but missed out to Ghana. Four years after the failed attempt, DR Congo got sweet revenge, beating Ghana 2-0 in the final of the inaugural African Nations Championship - a reserve tournament for African players in their respective country's leagues only. But yes, wars remained in effect and not until the mid-2010s that DR Congo finally got a new wind.

Dieumerci Mbokani is the face of DR Congo on its football rebirth.

The third-place finish in 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea was the signal of a new era of DR Congo after decades in darkness. DR Congo then produced one of the greatest performances ever in a World Cup qualification since 1974 one, as the Congolese Leopards almost qualified for Russia, only to be sadly thwarted by Tunisia, who went on disappointed in the same stage.

The rising successes of DR Congo could be seen as the result of reviving stability and development in the country. DR Congo may have not seen a second World Cup, but the country is rebuilding fast.

Moreover, in accordance with their rising national fortunes, its clubs are also increasingly successful, with TP Mazembe being the first team from Sub-Saharan Africa to have qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009, an experiment that would be repeated in 2015. In addition, only clubs from DR Congo and South Africa have been seen as tough competitors in the CAF Champions League, which has been usually dominated by North African teams since the 1980s. Frequent experiences of playing with top North African clubs, renowned for offering the highest quality of club football in Africa, helped improve DR Congo's football capability to become stubborn. The club successes of DR Congo, thus, transcended into the Leopards' rise.

Moreover, DR Congo is seeing its return of the diaspora-based players. Mostly in France and Belgium, DR Congolese footballers have marked their names, some even became highly sought by big clubs in Europe, had contributed much to these advantages. Though in the past, DR Congo didn't utilise it enough, the restoration of DR Congo's development could boost the country's diaspora to rebuild the nation. Footballers like Britt Assombalonga, Yannick Bolasie, Nill de Pauw, Yoane Wissa, Paul M'Poku, Neeskens Kebano, Parfait Mandanda, Marcel Tisserand, Arthur Masuaku, Jordan Ikoko, Timothy Fayulu, etc. all born abroad but now chose DR Congo as a way to honour their ancestors. There are also a number of potential names that can represent the country, the brightest prospect being Aaron Wan-Bissaka, an English footballer of DR Congolese descent playing for Manchester United. Wan-Bissaka, since October 2020, has shown a greater desire to play for DR Congo after being overlooked by England's boss Gareth Southgate.

Final words

DR Congo's upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification saw the country draw with Benin, Madagascar and Tanzania. With its golden workforce reaching its peak, chances for DR Congo to reclaim what it has lost come bigger than ever. Still, it depends on how will DR Congo perform.

Of course, the lesson from Madagascar stays still. They lost to the same opponent back in the 2019 AFCON after penalties, even though Madagascar's fortunes have dwindled since. Benin and Tanzania are no longer on their primes too, but they're not to be underestimated, especially how Benin gave Morocco and Nigeria hard times, while Tanzania drew Tunisia.

Even when DR Congo tops her group, she still has to face the third round against a number of uncertain opponents, the likes of facing Morocco, Cameroon, Tunisia, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria are high stakes. This will be the true, final test DR Congo have to deal over.

To achieve the return is a long, long story. But with the blessings of the country's recovery, even though remains slow and uncertain, DR Congo can hope for the country's World Cup comeback, especially under the Argentine manager, Hector Cuper. Cuper succeeded with ending Egypt's World Cup drought in 2018, why not with DR Congo?

Nobody tax your dream, DR Congo. But you must work to take it.