D.R. Congo 2019-20 Home (BOLASIE #11) Jersey/Shirt

This is an O’Neills Democratic Republic of the Congo national team 2019-20 home jersey featuring the name and number of star winger Yannick Bolasie.

DR Congo’s national team have a rich history of success and they have mostly been one of Africa’s stronger teams since their first international match in 1948. The appearance of Zaire (the name of DR Congo between 1971-1997) in the 1974 World Cup marked the first time that a sub-Saharan African team competed at the tournament and Zaire (now DR Congo) has not qualified for the World Cup since then. At the tournament Zaire failed to score any goals and suffered a 9-0 defeat to Yugoslavia, however gave credible performances against Scotland and Brazil. They have won the Africa Cup of Nations twice- in 1968 & 1974 and regularly perform well at the tournament, with their best recent results being a third-place finish in the 2015 edition and a fourth-place finish in the 2023 edition. Although they have been unable to replicate the success of their golden era in the late 1960s and 1970s, DR Congo have a promising young squad and will be looking to make a return to the World Cup in the near future.

Bolasie is one of the most well-known players to represent DR Congo internationally in recent years and the 35-year-old has had a prominent club career since beginning his career in England’s lower leagues. He first caught attention during his spell with Championship club Plymouth Argyle from 2008-2011, and later moved to the Premier League when joining Crystal Palace, where he had a highly successful stint over four seasons. This led to Bolasie being signed by Everton in 2016 for a reported £25 million transfer fee, however he suffered from a range of injury problems and was loaned out to four different clubs throughout his time at Everton. In 2021 he was signed by Turkish Süper Lig side Çaykur Rizespor following his most recent loan spell with English Championship club Middlesbrough. Bolasie was born in France to Congolese parents and made his debut for the DR Congo national team in 2013. He has since scored 9 goals in 50 matches for ‘The Leopards’ and was a member of their 2015 & 2019 Africa Cup of Nations squads.