Chancel Mangulu Mbemba (born 8 August 1994) is a Congolese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

the DR Congo national team. Mbemba began his professional career

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, where he won the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

in his debut season of 2013–14. A year later, he moved to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, where he played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and won the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. In four years at

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, he won the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

and

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

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in 2020 and 2022. A full international for DR Congo since 2012, Mbemba has earned over 90 caps and represented the country at five

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

tournaments, finishing third in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Early life

Mbemba grew up in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

in a family of nine children. His mother, Antoinette, is a former basketball player who represented

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. A 2013 report by

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found that documents support four different dates of birth for Mbemba from 1988 to 1994, with the player saying himself that he was born in 1990; an anonymous member of the

Congolese Association Football Federation The Congolese Association Football Federation (, FECOFA) is the governing body of football in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It founded in 1919 and affiliated to the FIFA in 1964 and CAF in 1964. It organizes the national football league ...

said that his date of birth was changed to 1991 so that he would be eligible for the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

where players must be under 23. Upon signing for Newcastle, he said that he was born in 1994 and that there was forensic proof.

Club career

Anderlecht

After playing youth football for several clubs including E.S. La Grace and

FC MK Etanchéité Football Club MK Étanchéité is a football club from DR Congo founded in 1995 in Kinshasa. Honours Coupe du Congo * Winners (2): 2013, 2014 Performance in CAF competitions *CAF Confederation Cup: 2 appearances ::2014 – first round ::2015 � ...

in Kinshasa, Mbemba joined Belgian club

in 2012. Upon moving, he mainly played with Anderlecht reserve and youth teams, and requested to have a bone scan to dispel rumours that he was older than he actually was. On 21 July 2013, Mbemba was an unused substitute as Anderlecht won the

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

1–0 against

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

. He made his debut a week later in their opening match of the

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, a 3–2 home defeat to

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

. He scored five goals in 35 games of a league-winning campaign, starting by concluding a 2–0 win at

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

on 18 October, a contribution to becoming the league's Player of the Month. Mbemba played in the

2014 Belgian Super Cup The 2014 Belgian Super Cup was a football match that was played on 20 July 2014, between 2013–14 Belgian Pro League winners Anderlecht and 2013–14 Belgian Cup winners Lokeren, won by Anderlecht, winning their twelfth super cup. Anderlecht had ...

, a 2–1 win over Lokeren. he made 28 appearances during the 2014–15 season as they finished in third spot in the league, and runners-up in the

2014–15 Belgian Cup The 2014–15 Belgian Cup is the 60th season of Belgian's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 26 July 2014 and ended with the final on 22 March 2015. The winners of the competition will qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa ...

, losing 1–2 to

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

in the final.

Newcastle United

On 26 July 2015,

side

announced the signing of Mbemba. Four days later, he signed a five-year contract with the club. He made his debut on 9 August on the first day of the

season, starting in a 2–2 home draw with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. He scored his only goal for the club on 7 May 2017 against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in a 3–0 home win, on the same day that Newcastle clinched the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

title a year after relegation.

Porto

On 23 July 2018,

side

signed Mbemba for a reported £7.14 million fee. He made his debut on 31 October in a 4–2 home win over Varzim in the group stage of the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

, with manager

Sérgio Conceição Sérgio Paulo Marceneiro da Conceição (; born 15 November 1974) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who mostly played as a right winger. Throughout his career, he played for ten teams in five countries. After gain ...

sending out a completely different team to the previous league game. Four days later he made his

bow as an 80th-minute substitute for striker

Yacine Brahimi Yacine Nasreddine Brahimi (; born 8 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays for and captains the Qatari club Al-Gharafa and the Algeria national team. He plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is described as "technica ...

in a 2–0 victory at Marítimo; he played only two more league games that season, one of which was a start in a 3–1 win over

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

at the ''

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; ') is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third-largest football stadium in Portugal. Designed by Portugue ...

'' on 7 January 2019. He also played two matches for the reserve team in

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

. Mbemba scored his first goal for the Dragons on 24 November 2019, opening a 4–0 home win over

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

that qualified his team to the last 16 of the

. The following 7 March, he was on the scoreboard for the first time in the league, in a 1–1 draw with

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

at the same venue; his team ended the season as champions. On 1 August 2020, Mbemba scored both goals of a 2–1 win over Benfica in the Taça de Portugal Final.

Marseille

On 15 July 2022, Mbemba signed a three-year contract with

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on a free transfer. He made his debut on 7 August as the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

began with a 4–1 home win over

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, and scored his first goal in his third game on 20 August to open a 2–1 win over

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

also at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. On 7 September, he was sent off in a 2–0 Champions League loss at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

for a

professional foul ''Professional Foul'' is a television play written by Czech-born, British playwright Tom Stoppard. It was broadcast on 21 September 1977 in BBC 2's ''Play of the Week'' series. The play is set in Prague and follows the character of Profess ...

Son Heung-min Son Heung-min (; born 8 July 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both club Tottenham Hotspur and the South Korea national team. Known for his speed, finishing, two-footedness, and ability ...

International career

Mbemba made his debut for the

on 17 June 2012, in a 3–0 home win over the Seychelles at the

Stade des Martyrs The Pentacost Martyrs Stadium (French language, French: ''Stade des Martyrs de la Pentecôte'') (formerly known as Stade Kamanyola), or commonly referred to as the Stade des Martyrs, is a List of national stadiums, national multi-purpose stadium ...

, in

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

. He was an unused member of

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (; born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana national teams. Managerial career Le Roy has had a varied manageria ...

's squad for the finals. He was part of the squad that came third at the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

in Equatorial Guinea, and scored a penalty in the shootout win over the hosts for the bronze medal. On 13 October 2015, Mbemba scored his first international goal, a late long-distance winner in a 2–1 friendly against

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

Visé Visé (; , ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, and Visé. In the ...

, Belgium. He also went to the Africa Cup of Nations in

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

; in the latter in Egypt he scored a late header in a 2–2 draw with

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

in the last 16, though his team lost in a shootout.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbemba goal.''

Honours

Anderlecht *

: 2013–14 *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Newcastle United *

: 2016–17 Porto *

: 2019–20 2021–22 *

: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

runner-up: 2018–19, 2019–20 DR Congo *

bronze:

Individual *

Team of the Year: 2021–22 * UNFP Ligue 1

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Prix Marc-Vivien Foé The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an annual award in honour to the late Marc-Vivien Foé, given to the African player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season in Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's ...

: 2022–23 *

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten play ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

*
Chancel Mbemba Mangulu's profile at RSCA.be
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbemba, Chancel Living people Footballers from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Belgian Pro League players Premier League players English Football League players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Ligue 1 players FC MK Etanchéité players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Newcastle United F.C. players FC Porto players FC Porto B players Olympique de Marseille players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France 1994 births 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Age controversies 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen