| Congo | |
| Badge: | Congo Republic FA.png |
| Badge Size: | 150px |
| Nickname: | Ba Diabulu ya Mbwaki (The Red Devils) |
| Association: | Kimvuka ya nkweso ya Kongo (KNK) |
| Confederation: | CAF (Africa) |
| Coach: | Isaac Ngata (Interim) |
| Captain: | Amour Loussoukou |
| Most Caps: | Jonas Bahamboula Delvin N'Dinga (56) |
| Top Scorer: | Thievy Bifouma (16) |
| Home Stadium: | Stade ya mbanza Kintélé Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat |
| Fifa Trigramme: | CGO |
| Fifa Max: | 42 |
| Fifa Max Date: | September 2015 |
| Fifa Min: | 144 |
| Fifa Min Date: | September 2011 |
| Elo Max: | 37 |
| Elo Max Date: | July 1972 |
| Elo Min: | 133 |
| Elo Min Date: | 4 September 2011 |
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| First Game: |  French Congo 5–1 Cameroon (Middle Congo; 1954)[1] |
| Largest Loss: | (Antananarivo, Madagascar; 18 April 1960) |
| Regional Name: | Africa Cup of Nations |
| Regional Cup Apps: | 7 |
| Regional Cup First: | 1968 |
| Regional Cup Best: | Champions (1972) |
| 2Ndregional Cup Apps: | 1 |
| 2Ndregional Name: | Jordan International Tournament |
| 2Ndregional Cup First: | 1992 |
| 2Ndregional Cup Best: | Fourth place (1992) |
The Congo national football team (Kikongo: Ekipe ya nkweso ya nsi ya Kongo) represents the Republic of the Congo in men's association football and is governed by the Congolese Football Federation. 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. The team is also a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
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.[2] 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.
See main article: Congo national football team results (2020–present). The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
The following players were called-up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Niger and Morocco on 6 and 11 June 2024 respectively.[3]
Caps and goals are correct as of 12 June 2024, after the match against Morocco.[4]
The following players were called up for Congo in the last 12 months.
Players in bold are still active with Congo.
| width=30px | Rank | Player | width=50px | Caps | width=50px | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56 | 13 | 1969–1982 | ||||
| Delvin N'Dinga | 56 | 1 | 2008–2021 | ||||
| 3 | 55 | 1 | 2001–2013 | ||||
| 4 | 51 | 1 | 2004–2018 | ||||
| 5 | 45 | 0 | 2012–2021 | ||||
| 6 | 44 | 2 | 2000–2013 | ||||
| 7 | 43 | 8 | 2008–2019 | ||||
| 8 | Thievy Bifouma | 41 | 16 | 2014–present | |||
| 41 | 3 | 2008–2017 | |||||
| 10 | 38 | 0 | 1990–2001 | ||||
| width=30px | Rank | Player | width=50px | Goals | width=50px | Caps | width=50px | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thievy Bifouma | 16 | 41 | 2014–present | |||||
| 2 | 13 | 56 | 1969–1982 | ||||||
| 3 | 12 | 29 | 1971–1978 | ||||||
| 4 | 11 | 31 | 1970–1978 | ||||||
| 5 | 10 | 33 | 1984–1993 | ||||||
| 10 | 37 | 2010–2017 | |||||||
| 7 | 8 | 35 | 1974–1992 | ||||||
| 8 | 43 | 2008–2019 | |||||||
| 9 | Kader Bidimbou | 5 | 13 | 2014–present | |||||
| Guy Mbenza | 5 | 21 | 2017–present | ||||||
| Silvère Ganvoula | 5 | 23 | 2014–present | ||||||
| 5 | 25 | 1996–2008 | |||||||
| Hardy Binguila | 5 | 29 | 2013–present | ||||||
| 5 | 37 | 2006–2017 | |||||||
| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | |||||||||||||
| 1930 to 1958 | Part of | Part of | |||||||||||||
| as | |||||||||||||||
 1962 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | |||||||||||||
| 1966 | Colspan=8 | Entry not accepted by FIFA | Colspan=6 | Entry not accepted by FIFA | |||||||||||
| as | |||||||||||||||
 1970 | Colspan=8 | Did not enter | Colspan=6 | Did not enter | |||||||||||
| 1974 | Rowspan=2 Colspan=8 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
 1978 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | |||||||||
 1982 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1986 | |||||||||||||||
 1990 | |||||||||||||||
| as | |||||||||||||||
 1994 | Did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||
| 1998 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | |||||||||
 2002 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 17 | |||||||||
 2006 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 15 | |||||||||
 2010 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
 2014 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2018 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 16 | |||||||||
 2022 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | |||||||||
 2026 | To be determined | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||
  2030 | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
 2034 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 70 | 21 | 16 | 33 | 81 | 98 | |||||||||
| Africa Cup of Nations record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | |||||||
 1957 | Part of | ||||||||
| 1959 | |||||||||
| Played as | |||||||||
 1962 | Not affiliated to CAF | ||||||||
 1963 | |||||||||
 1965 | |||||||||
| 1968 | Group stage | 7th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | |
| Played as | |||||||||
| 1970 | Did not enter | ||||||||
 1972 | Winners | 1st | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | |
 1974 | Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | |
| 1976 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1978 | Group stage | 7th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
 1980 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1982 | |||||||||
 1984 | |||||||||
| 1986 | |||||||||
| 1988 | |||||||||
| 1990 | Did not enter | ||||||||
| Played as | |||||||||
 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 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2019 | |||||||||
| 2021 | |||||||||
| 2023 | |||||||||
| 2025 | To be determined | ||||||||
  2027 | |||||||||
| Total | 1 Title | 7/34 | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 37 | |
See also: Congo national under-23 football team.
See also: Congo national under-20 football team.
| African Games record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 1965 | Gold | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | |
| 1973 | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | |
| Total | 2/4 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 13 | |