Football is the most popular

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

played in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The national football team has won the African Cup of Nations twice: in 1968 and 1974 under the nations' former name

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

. The national team qualified for the World Cup in 1974, their only appearance in that tournament.

Domestic football

At club level, in the

2010 FIFA Club World Cup The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the seventh FIFA Club World Cup and was ...

TP Mazembe Tout Puissant Mazembe, commonly referred to as TP Mazembe, is a Congolese professional football club based in Lubumbashi. History Tout Puissant Mazembe, the first sports club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a value of at least $10 ...

made history as the first ever African club to reach a FIFA tournament final, beating the

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. The tournament began on ...

champions

SC Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

in the semifinals and losing to European Champions

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

International football

Although DR Congo has had limited international success since the late 1970s, numerous players of Congolese descent have played professionally in Europe, including

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan, on loan from club Chelsea, and the Belgium national team. Lukaku began his senior club career playing for Ander ...

, Aaron Wan-Bissaka,

Jonathan Ikoné Nanitamo Jonathan Ikoné (born 2 May 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Fiorentina and the France national team. Club career Paris Saint-Germain Ikone made his professional debut on 28 September 2 ...

Michy Batshuayi Michy Batshuayi-Atunga (born 2 October 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Belgium national team. Batshuayi began his professional career at Standard Liège in 2011, scorin ...

Youri Tielemans Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Leicester City and the Belgium national team. Tielemans began his career at Anderlecht, where he made 185 official appearance ...

Steve Mandanda Steve Mandanda Mpidi (; born 28 March 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Rennes. Mandanda spent most of his professional career with Marseille, making over 600 appearances across all competition ...

, Tanguy Ndombele,

Christian Benteke Christian Benteke Liolo (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club D.C. United and the Belgium national team. Benteke began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in ...

, Elio Capradossi,

Sara Gama Sara Gama (born 27 March 1989) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre back and captains both Serie A club Juventus FC and the Italy women's national team. Club career Gama has also played for PSG of Division 1 Féminin ...

Axel Tuanzebe Axel Tuanzebe (born 14 November 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Manchester United. Tuanzebe is a graduate of the Manchester United youth system and won both the Jimmy Murphy Young Pla ...

Isaac Kiese Thelin Isaac Kiese Thelin (born 24 June 1992) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Malmö FF and the Sweden national team. A full international since 2014, he has won more than 30 caps for Sweden and represented his country ...

José Bosingwa José Bosingwa da Silva (born 24 August 1982) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a right-back. An attacking fullback, his pace and ability to get up and down the flanks created problems for the opposition. He spent most of his prof ...

and Denis Zakaria. In international competitions, DR Congo has only qualified for three FIFA tournaments, the 1974 FIFA World Cup for the senior men's side, and the 2006 and

2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 4th edition of the tournament. It was held in Chile between 19 November and 7 December 2008. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, i ...

s, achieved by the U-20 women's side.

+50,000-capacity football stadiums

Domestic football

International football

+50,000-capacity football stadiums

See also

References

Further reading