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Democratic Republic of the Congo

FIBA ranking	73 5 (26 November 2024)
Joined FIBA	1963
FIBA zone	FIBA Africa
National federation	Febaco
Coach	Emmanuel Mavomo
Nickname(s)	Leopards
AfroBasket
Appearances	7 (last in 2021)
Home Away

The DR Congo national basketball team (French: Équipe nationale de basketball de Congo DR) represents DR Congo in men's international basketball competitions, it is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Democratic Republic of Congo. (French: République démocratique du Congo Fédération de basket-ball)

The team has appeared in the FIBA Africa Championship, but has yet to appear in the FIBA World Championship. Its biggest success to date was the Final Four placement at the 1975 FIBA Africa Championship when it competed as Zaire.

History

DR Congo joined the FIBA in 1963 and made their first tournament debut twelve years later, during the 1974 AfroBasket. In the following year, they played in the 1975 AfroBasket championship. Congo ended in the fourth place after a 2–3 record. After a 6th place in 1980, the team missed the tournament for the next 27 years.

During AfroBasket 2007, DR Congo returned and finished 15th.

After another 10-year absence, the country played in the AfroBasket 2017 where they reached the quarter-finals after upsetting Nigeria in the group phase.

In August 2022, Jonathan Kuminga joined the Congolese team to become the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to play for the national team. Kuminga had just won his first NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors.

Performances

FIBA Basketball World Cup

DR Congo has never appeared in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, but has played in the qualifying rounds.

FIBA World Cup record							Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L		GP	W	L	–
1963	Did not qualify						AfroBasket served as qualification
1967
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2019							6	2	4	2019
2023							12	5	7	2023
2027	To be determined						To be determined			2027
Total	0/16		0	0	0		18	7	11	Total

AfroBasket

  Fourth place  

AfroBasket record							Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L		GP	W	L	–
1964	Did not qualify
1965
1968
1970
1972
1974	Classification stage	6th	4	1	3
1975	Main stage	4th	5	2	3
1978	Did not qualify
1980	Classification stage	6th	5	2	3
1981	Did not qualify
1983
1985
1987
1989
1992
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007	Classification round	15th	6	2	4
2009	Did not qualify						4	1	3	2009
2011							Did not enter
2013							6	1	5	2013
2015							Withdrew
2017	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	2		2	1	1	2017
2021	Group stage	13th	3	1	2		6	3	3	2021
2025	To be determined						To be determined			2025
Total	6/29		27	10	17		18	6	12	–

FIBA AfroCan

  Champions     Fourth place  

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L
2019	Champions	1st	5	5	0
2023	4th place	4th	6	3	2
Total	2/2		11	8	2

Team

Current roster

Roster in the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers of August 27, 2022.

No.	Pos.	Player	Current club
00	SG	Jonathan Kuminga	Golden State Warriors
3	F	Narcisse Ambanza	Espoir Fukash
4	G	Myck Kabongo	Cape Town Tigers
5	G	Henry Pwono	Etzella
10	PF	Joel Ntambwe	Delaware Blue Coats
11	C	Pitchou Kambuy Manga	REG
15	F	Rolly Fula Nganga	Espoir Fukash
16	PF	Shekinah Munanga	Évreux
18	C	Jordan likanda	CB Breogán
23	F	Rodrigue Ebondo Tambwe	SOA
24	G	Ron Mvouika	Plymouth Raiders

Head coaches

Name	Nationality	Tenure
Papy Kipunka Kiembe	DR Congo	2017–2018
John Douaglin	France	2018
Mathias Eckhoff	Norway	2020–2022
Thomas Drouot	France	February 2022 – July 2022
Emmanuel Mavomo	DR Congo	August 2022 – May 2023

Notable eligible players

Name	Team	Team nation
Bismack Biyombo	Oklahoma City Thunder	United States
Yannick Nzosa	Unicaja Málaga → Estudiantes	Spain
Jordan Sakho	Breogán	Spain
Oscar Tshiebwe	Indiana Pacers	United States
Emmanuel Mudiay	Piratas de Quebradillas	Puerto Rico

Top scorers

The following players were the DR Congo's top scorers in their AfroBasket tournaments:

See also

• Basketball Federation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Dikembe Mutombo
• Christian Eyenga
• Bismack Biyombo
• DR Congo women's national basketball team
• DR Congo national under-19 basketball team
• DR Congo national under-17 basketball team
• DR Congo national 3x3 team

References

1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
2. FIBA National Federations – Democratic Republic of the Congo, fiba.com. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
3. ^ "DR Congo mourns passing of former national teams head coach Papy Kiembe". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
4. ^ "Emmanuel Mavomo: "We want to be the first to qualify the DRC for the World Cup"". African News Paper. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
5. "Congo DR at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
6. "DR Congo appoint Douaglin as head coach in bid to qualify for World Cup". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
7. "Kayembe excited about new DR Congo sophisticated style". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
8. "AfroBasket 2021 - Team Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
9. Demba, Varore (17 February 2022). "Basketball : la RD Congo engage un nouvel entraîneur pour les qualifications au Mondial 2023". Sport News Africa (in French). Retrieved 31 August 2022.
10. "Dem.Rep. of Congo at the FIBA Afrobasket 2017". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
11. "Congo DR at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 September 2022.

External links

• FIBA profile
• Africabasket – DR Congo Men National Team
• DR Congo Basketball Records at FIBA Archive

v t e National men's basketball teams of Africa (FIBA Africa)
AfroBasket Men
Zone 1 (4)	Algeria Libya Morocco Tunisia
Zone 2 (8)	Cape Verde Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau Mali Mauritania Senegal Sierra Leone
Zone 3 (8)	Benin Burkina Faso Ivory Coast Ghana Liberia Niger Nigeria Togo
Zone 4 (8)	Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Republic of the Congo DR Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon São Tomé and Príncipe
Zone 5 (11)	Burundi Egypt United Arab Republic Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda Somalia North Sudan South Sudan Tanzania Uganda
Zone 6 (10)	Angola Botswana Eswatini Lesotho Malawi Mozambique Namibia South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe
Zone 7 (5)	Comoros Djibouti Madagascar Mauritius Seychelles

v t e National sports teams of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Badminton Basketball M M U-18 M U-16 W W U-19 Football M M U-20 W W U-20 W U-17 Handball M W Rugby league Rugby union Tennis Volleyball
Olympics Paralympics

• Men's national basketball teams
• Basketball in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• National sports teams of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• 1963 establishments in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)