DR Congo fans dance in the rain
\n LONDON
\nDelirious football fans took to the soaked streets of the capital Kinshasa and danced into the night in the rain after the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.
\nDefender Axel Tuanzebe, who plays in the Premier League for Burnley, was the hero with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Jamaica after extra time in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico on Tuesday.
\nThe central African nation will face Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan in Group K at the finals in North America this summer.
\nAt the 1974 finals in West Germany, the team competed as Zaire and were beaten by Scotland, Yugoslavia and Brazil.
\n\u201cWe gave it our all, right here in the rain!\u201d shouted Beni Ile, a fan in Kinshasa whose shoulders were draped in a soaked DRC flag.
\n\u201cWe won\u2019t be working on Wednesday! It\u2019s going to be a national holiday. We\u2019re going to celebrate and party all night long.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting 50 years for this. We\u2019re staying out until dawn.\u201d
\nIt was a scene replicated across the city of 17 million people, where the final whistle in Guadalajara was greeted by a cacophony of banging pots, car horns and whistles.
\nThe win completed a dramatic qualification campaign for the team nicknamed the Leopards, who eliminated African football giants Nigeria and Cameroon on their way to Tuesday\u2019s playoff.
\nAs early as the morning of the big match, many residents of the DRC capital were already sporting the sky-blue jersey of their beloved national side.
\nBy evening several hundred fans had gathered in a square in the city centre in anticipation to watch the game.
\nEven as the rain bucketed down, the conclusion of the match after 120 nervy minutes was met with an outpouring of national pride and relief.
\nIt was also a rare moment of national unity in a country scarred by 30 years of conflict and the resurgence of the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s truly exceptional, we are very proud of the Leopards today for this feat,\u201d said Merou, who comes from Goma, a major city in eastern DRC that fell into M23 hands in January 2025.
\n\u201cThis victory will unify the Congo.
\n\u201cWe hope the whole country will benefit from it,\u201d he added, standing in the pouring rain.
\nAnother overjoyed supporter, Maclain, said: \u201cWe deserve a moment of happiness, away from the gunfire.
\n\u201cWe need to come together too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DR Congo fans dance in the rain LONDON Delirious football fans took to the soaked streets of the capital Kinshasa and danced into the night in the rain after the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup for the first time in 52 years. Defender Axel Tuanzebe, who plays in the Premier League for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-539576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n