DR Congo turned to Europe-based talent as it pushes for World Cup qualification, with former national team captain Gabriel Zakuani at the centre of the recruitment strategy.
Zakuani, who played over 400 games in the English Football League and represented the Leopards at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, now splits his time between assisting DRC’s Under-20 side and scouting European leagues for players with Congolese heritage.
“I think we’ve become sort of bankers in Afcon as well.
“Afcon used to be a hard thing for DRC to qualify for, but now it seems a bit more straightforward, the sort of quality we’ve got, which has changed the views of a lot of players who were in two minds about joining,” Zakuani says, reflecting on how the national team’s improved results have made it easier to attract dual-nationality players.
His recruitment work began while he was still playing.
He recalls the months-long effort to convince Yannick Bolasie to commit to the Leopards, joking that he “practically had to tie him down to get him on the plane in the end.”
Today, the approach is more streamlined, and players increasingly see DR Congo as an opportunity to play on the global stage.
An example of Zakuani’s influence came in 2022 at a meeting in a Costa Coffee in Purley with DR Congo manager Sébastien Desabre.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, then at Manchester United, was holding out for an England call-up. Zakuani, who was born in Kinshasa but raised in London, quickly engaged with the player’s family.
“The manager contacted me out of the blue and he was in London. It was a very random trip – he just wanted to watch players that potentially could play for Congo.
“We met at Costa and less than an hour into the conversation I had rung up Aaron’s family and we were at Aaron’s house.
“We were having a conversation with his mum and dad about potentially getting him to change his nationality. It snowballed from there.”
Wan-Bissaka eventually agreed to switch allegiance, joining Axel Tuanzebe, another Europe-based player, in the Leopards squad.
The team went on to qualify for the African playoffs, overcoming Cameroon and Nigeria, and now faces Jamaica in a World Cup playoff in Guadalajara.
A successful result would see DRC appear at the World Cup for the first time since 1974, when they competed as Zaire.
“We have got players in the pipeline,” Zakuani says.
“There’s things that have been in the background happening for about a year now. But because we’ve got to this position in the playoffs, we need to just stick with what we’ve got, what’s worked, and we’ll pursue that if we do get to the World Cup.”
For Zakuani and the national team, the World Cup represents a historic opportunity to emulate the iconic 1974 Zaire side.
“The country believes that we can do it, we can’t make it 52 years without getting to a World Cup. I think it’s the right time. It’s the right time with the team. We don’t want to miss this opportunity,” he adds.
Zakuani’s dual role as scout and mentor reflects DR Congo’s strategy which is combining homegrown leadership with Europe-based talent to finally break a half-century World Cup drought.
