DR Congo forced into World Cup squad change after Bushiri ruled out through injury

[p]Coach Sebastien Desabre named his 26-player squad on ‌Monday, but has withdrawn Hibernian centre back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bushiri-rocky/C4f3PxdO/"]Bushiri[/a]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kilmarnock/jX8ezy7G/"]Kilmarnock[/a] ‌defensive midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tshibola-aaron/MZa9IxlC/"]Tshibola[/a] has been called up.[/p][p][b]"The Congolese ‌Football Federation Association confirms the withdrawal of Rocky Bushiri from the 2026 World Cup, following an injury sustained during ‌his last match with his club," ⁠the Congolese Association Football ‌Federation said in a statement.[/b][/p][p][b]"The technical staff has called ​up Aaron Tshibola, player for Kilmarnock FC, as a replacement."[/b][/p][embed guid="b03f8225-635e-47d8-9447-b2100d229796" url="https://x.com/HibernianFC/status/2057115456624808027" social-type="twitter" /][p]London-born Tshibola, previously on the books ​of Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, is a former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] junior international who made his debut for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/d-r-congo/phn9mm8H/"]⁠Congo[/a] in 2018 ​but was not selected again for another five years.[/p][p]He has 16 international caps and helped DR Congo finish fourth at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, ‌but did not feature in the last continental tournament in Morocco.[/p][p]DR Congo are in World Cup Group K with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/portugal/WvJrjFVN/"]Portugal[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uzbekistan/EZYKKRMc/"]Uzbekistan[/a].[/p][image alt="DR Congo's upcoming games" id="f732cbfc-6147-44ed-8ae2-d5feb8e58282" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="78ab20e7-801f-42a2-8628-88cf1778c436" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]The country was known as Zaire when they last played at the World Cup in West Germany in 1974, losing all three games, including a 9-0 defeat to Yugoslavia.[/p][h2]Revised DR Congo squad[/h2][p][b]Goalkeepers: [/b]Matthieu Epolo (Standard Liège), Timothy Fayulu (Noah), ‌Lionel Mpasi (Le Havre)[/p][p][b]Defenders: [/b]Dylan Batubinsika (Larisa), Gedoon Kalulu (Aris Limassol), ​Steve Kapuadi (Widzew Lodz), Joris Kayembe (Racing Genk), Arthur Masuaku (Racing ‌Lens), Chancel Mbemba (Lille), Axel Tuanzebe (Burnley), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United)[/p][p][b]Midfielders: [/b]Theo Bongonda (Spartak Moscow), Brian Cipenga (Castellon), Meshack Elia (Alanyaspor), Gael Kakuta (Larisa), Edo Kayembe (Watford), Nathanael Mbuku (Montpellier), Samuel Moutoussamy (Atromitos), Ngal'ayel Mukau (Lille), Charles Pickel (Espanyol), Noah Sadiki (Sunderland), Aaron Tshibola (Kilmarnock)[/p][p][b]Forwards:[/b] ⁠Cedric Bakambu (Real Betis), ⁠Simon Banza (Al Jazira), Fiston ‌Mayele (Pyramids), Yoane Wissa (Newcastle United).[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/world/world-cup/"]Follow the World Cup with Flashscore.[/a][/p]