World Cup 2026: DRC - Jamaica seen by fans

A whole country holds its breath a few hours before one of the finals of the intercontinental World Cup 2026 playoffs that will oppose the Leopards to the Reggae Boyz from Jamaica, in Guadalajara. For the Congolese fans, the hope of seeing the DRC again at the World Cup has never been so real for several years.

In the streets of Kinshasa, Congolese fans see their favorite team against Jamaica, especially after having seen the semi-final match of the Jamaicans, won against New Caledonia (1-0) without shining. 

“The DRC can in no way lose to Jamaica; this team is weak, I saw it against New Caledonia. We are not afraid,"

 said Rodrigue, a resident of the Pigeon district in the municipality of Ngaliema. 


On his part, Éric, a resident of the municipality of La Gombe, remains suspicious.

 “Jamaica will start the match against DRC differently from New Caledonia, it’s clear that the stakes are not the same. One must not sing victory before the hour, one must remain cautious," 

he confided. 

The bad memories still gnaw heads
The DRC is currently going through a 52-year period of famine since its only participation in the World Cup in 1974. But before the 2026 edition, the Congolese had moved closer to a qualification for the World Cup during the last two editions, each time narrowly lacking in succeeding.

For the 2018 World Cup, while it was enough to finish in first position in the group to pass, the Leopards finished second, behind Tunisia, notably with a catastrophic draw in Kinshasa against the Aigles de Carthage (2-2), while they were leading (2-0), before being caught up on the score in the last 12 minutes of the match. This defeat had sealed their fate.

In the next edition (2022), it was not enough to finish first in the group, you had to play the continental playoffs to pass. The Congolese did the hardest by finishing at the top of their group but were eliminated in the African play-offs by Morocco who had beaten them in the return match (4-1) in Casablanca, after a draw (1-1) in Kinshasa in the first leg. It was still a broken dream for all the Congolese. 

And for this edition, the road to the World Cup was even longer for those who were not going to finish at the top of their group. It was necessary to go through the continental dams, then the intercontinental dams to go to the World Cup. DRC missed the opportunity to qualify directly by finishing second in their group behind Senegal who beat them at home in the decisive match (3-2).

 It was then necessary to play the African dams first to continue hoping. The Leopards did it brilliantly by beating Cameroon in the semi-finals (1-0) and Nigeria in the final (1-1, 4Tab3). And there it is the last stage so feared by some supporters, like Christophe, a N'djilois.

 “I’m a little scared because every time it’s at the last step that everything goes wrong, I certainly hope that won’t be the case this year. I will pray," 

he said. 

But with the friendly victory of the Leopards against Bermuda (2-0), thanks in particular to the goal of Yoane Wissa who signs his return to the national team, after a few months of absence, Séverin is confident. 

''The team is in shape, it has prepared well and the players are confident. The coach only needs to make good choices and a good reading of the opponent, it will be okay,"

 he said. 

 Throughout the national territory, the atmosphere on Wednesday, April 1st will depend on the outcome of tonight’s match. Either the celebration of victory, or an atmosphere resembling a national mourning in case of defeat.