A Chancel Mbemba set-piece header and a second-half goal from Yoane Wissa gave DR Congo a 2-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea on September 24, opening their AFCON Pamoja 2027 qualifying campaign. The Leopards collected three points in Group E without conceding.
The result set up a second-round meeting between two opening-day winners. FECOFA announced the away fixture against Zimbabwe for September 28 in Harare; Zimbabwe had also won, beating Sierra Leone 3-2 away. Those victories were the results of the first round, not qualification already secured.
The federation’s September 25 match report places the opening goal in the fourth minute: captain Mbemba headed in from a Nathanaël Mbuku set piece. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Noah Sadiki each hit the woodwork before the interval. Wan-Bissaka then supplied Wissa for the second goal after the break.
Sébastien Desabre’s side therefore approached the Harare fixture having scored in both halves of their opening match. This account concerns the Equatorial Guinea game and the group situation the following day, rather than later results in the campaign.
Sources and references
FECOFA · 25 septembre 2026Written with AI assistance from the cited sources and subject to editorial verification. Reported facts are distinguished from analysis; no original interviews are claimed.