AFCON 2025 - Preview: Algeria vs DR Congo

The Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat will be the highlight of these eighth finals of the AFCON 2025. Because in this den will be two of the teams who were expected to go as far as possible in this competition. And for the show, the suspense, it may be timely for two teams in very good shape.

For Algeria, the mission of Vladimir Petkovic and his men was clear: redemption after two eliminations in the first round during the last two African Cups. An anomaly repaired during the group phase overflown by the Fennecs: three victories respectively against Sudan, Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea, only the second team to have won all its meetings, in the company of Nigeria. The Algerians scored 7 goals, for only 1 conceded, in the 3rd day with a completely reshuffled team.

But be careful, the DR Congo has also delivered strong performances in this 2025 edition. The Congolese finished 2nd in group D with 7 points, tied with Senegal, leader. They also kept the Senegalese 1-1 in check during the 2nd day. Cédric Bakambu’s teammates won against Benin 1-0 and Botswana 3-0.

The perfect mix

It is therefore a team from Algeria sure of its strength that will face the DR Congo with the objective of coronation, after the one acquired in 2019. The great strength of the Algerian group lies in the perfect mix between the experience of those who had offered the title six years ago (Mahrez, Mandi, Bennacer) and young cracks capable of carrying the team (Maza, Amoura, Hadji Moussa).

With these overpowering forces that the coach Vladimir Petkovic intends to defeat DR Congo. 

“Respect is mandatory, but fear does not exist for me. I want an Algerian team that plays together and imposes its game. It’s an important meeting, I hope for a victory and a qualification. We are going to face a very strong opponent, who is on a good dynamic (...) It will be a difficult match, we must believe in ourselves to impose our game and win. We are eager to attack this second phase of the tournament. Obviously, our opponents are very strong. As a first step, we will fight to win and move on to the quarter-finals," 

said the Algerian coach in a pre-match press conference on Monday.

Hungry Leopards

However, we will have to be careful with the DR Congo. The Congolese remain in a semi-final during the last AFCON. Moreover, the Leopards lost only one match in 2025, it was against Senegal 2-3 in Kinshasa in September, in qualification for the World Cup, and had only two draws, including 1 against the same Senegal at the AFCON , for 11 victories. It is therefore an extremely formidable team, which has also analyzed the opposing team and is ready to exploit its flaws, as Sébastien Desabre announces.

With my technical staff, we know Algeria very well, even though it’s the first time we’re going to face it since I’ve been in the DRC. 

It will be tight and undecided between two teams that have collective and individual arguments, with different characteristics. The kick-off of this long-awaited shock is scheduled at 4 PM GMT.