DR Congo chasing World Cup return more than 50 years after last appearance

[p]It was when the country was known as Zaire that the Congolese last competed at the finals, ‌becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to qualify for the finals but leaving the 1974 tournament in West ‌Germany with a shattered reputation.[/p][p]Now they have a chance to put that right if ‌they overcome the Reggae Boyz in Guadalajara on Tuesday in the inter-confederation play-off.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/jamaica/CWmDb3zj/"]Jamaica[/a] beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-caledonia/0d8yIVUN/"]New ‌Caledonia[/a] 1-0 in the Mexican city on Friday to book a place against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/d-r-congo/phn9mm8H/"]‌DR Congo[/a], who were seeded directly into the play-off decider.[/p][p]The Congolese advanced after winning a similar playoff in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] in November, where they first overcame [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cameroon/zk1uVG2D/"]Cameroon[/a] and then edged past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nigeria/EBE2Xb3l/"]Nigeria[/a] in a strong ‌display of their potential, having finished narrowly behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/senegal/hOIsJLJr/"]Senegal[/a] in ⁠their African qualifying group.[/p][p][b]"We're really fired up," ‌said coach Sebastien Desabre of the opportunity to compete at the finals in Canada, Mexico, and ​the US in June.[/b][/p][p][b]"We're still on course to meet our main objective. That's the goal we set ourselves when I took this job three and ​a half years ago. This final will be our 13th match since our qualifying campaign began," he added.[/b][/p][embed guid="63938310-de60-4214-8b5a-d571b8ead9cc" url="https://x.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/2037477479540199488" social-type="twitter" /][p]Under Desabre, the side were semi-finalists at the Africa Cup of Nations ⁠in the Ivory Coast in ​early 2024 but went out in the last 16 at the latest edition of the African championship in Morocco in January.[/p][p]The Congolese are boosted by the return from injury of key striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wissa-yoane/b35gWzB2/"]Yoane Wissa[/a], who missed the tournament in Morocco but scored in a 2-0 ‌win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bermuda/EDkSyUht/"]Bermuda[/a] in a warm-up international in Guadalajara on Wednesday.[/p][p][b]“We're lucky enough to have talented players who ply their trade at top clubs,” added Desabre.[/b][/p][p][b]“Above all, everyone has really bought into the project we’ve been building together. Everyone is pulling in the same direction to achieve a common goal.[/b][/p][p][b]“We can make it tough for our opponents because we play as a unit: our forwards track back, our defenders push forward, and everyone pulls together, as if they were soldiers going into battle for their country,” the French-born coach said.[/b][/p][image alt="DR Congo's most recent results" id="95789289-dc30-4cbe-87d8-122b1a0ba148" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="6bea279b-c5f8-4a11-bb70-e2ae19fc297c" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]If they qualify, it will increase to 10 the number of African ‌teams at the World Cup, where the field has been expanded to 48 teams.[/p][p]In ​1974, they were the sole African representative and were handed a 9-0 defeat ‌by Yugoslavia. They also lost to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brazil/I9l9aqLq/"]Brazil[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/scotland/fZRU25WH/"]Scotland[/a]. Their approach was derided as naive, and after they got home, the team was disbanded.[/p][p]But some 52 years later, they have the opportunity to expunge any lingering negativity.[/p][p]The winner of the DR Congo-Jamaica clash competes in Group K at the World Cup, kicking off against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/portugal/WvJrjFVN/"]⁠Portugal[/a] in Houston on June 17th, then ⁠playing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a] in Guadalajara on June ‌23rd, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uzbekistan/EZYKKRMc/"]Uzbekistan[/a] in Atlanta on June 27th.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/d-r-congo-phn9mm8H/jamaica-CWmDb3zj/?mid=nHRhJvF8"]Follow the play-off with Flashscore.[/a][/p]