D.R. Congo 2019-20 Home (MBEMBA #22) 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 defender Chancel Mbemba.

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.

Chancel Mbemba has already had a prolific career, with the 30-year-old having played for a range of prominent European clubs. Mbemba was born and raised in Kinshasa before joining the youth team of Belgian powerhouse Anderlecht in 2012. He quickly progressed to the senior squad and played 35 first-team matches in the 2013-14 season as a 19-year-old. Mbemba was then signed by Premier League side Newcastle United at the start of the 2015-16 season for a fee of £8.4million and remained at the club until being transferred to Portuguese giants FC Porto in 2018. In July 2022, Mbemba joined French giants Marseille on a free transfer. At international level, Mbemba has been a key member of the DR Congo national team since his debut in 2012 at only 17 years of age. He has since won 89 caps and has represented his country in their past four Africa Cup of Nations appearances.