DR Congo Lineup

DR Congo Lineup vs Zambia as Leopards begin AFCON preparations

Sachin Bhat

Modified - Dec 16, 2025, 03:12 PM

3 min

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Summary

DR Congo begin preparations for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations with a friendly to Zambia
The Leopards have been drawn in a tough group alongside Benin, Senegal and Botswana

DR Congo plays an international friendly game against Zambia on Tuesday as the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is set to kick off next week. The Leopards are gunning for a third title in the competition and have been billed as one of the favorites too, following their awe-inspiring run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, wherein they stand just one game away from a second appearance. Head coach Sébastien Desabre now brings his swashbuckling team to Morocco for the AFCON showpiece, as the DR Congo National Football Team plays Benin, Senegal, and Botswana in Group D. A total of 26 players have been called upon for the tournament, including key attacker Cedric Bakambu, who has struck 20 goals from 63 games, and defensive stalwart Chancel Mbemba, their most capped player of all time.

A solid fourth-place finish in the AFCON last time, DR Congo prepares for the new edition of the competition with a friendly against the Zambia National Football Team, who have qualified for the finals. The Copper Bullets are in Group A with Mali, Comoros, and Morocco and play another friendly against the Ivory Coast after this one. Ranked 90th in the world, Moses Sichone's side comes into the fixture on the back of losing their last three fixtures: a 1-0 defeat to Niger in their final World Cup qualifier before a pair of friendly defeats to South Africa (3-1) and Angola (3-2). They have gone out in the group stages of their last three AFCON appearances and must pick up the pace to avoid a similar fate this time around, too. Now let's delve into the DR Congo vs Zambia lineups.