The Congolese diaspora has arrived here from everywhere: New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Boise, Buffalo, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, London, Liverpool, Paris. Pierre Tshamala is taking selfies outside the Estadio Akron the day before the match. He flew in from Michigan with his wife and son. “It’s just like our backyard,” he says, meaning Guadalajara. “We had to come. We have to witness it. We have to witness it.”
They’ve even come from Kinshasa. Nyenemo Sanguma, a sitting parliamentarian from Sud-Ubangi, flew from DRC’s capital to Accra, Ghana, from Accra to New York, from New York to Chicago—where he picked up his two sons, ages 10 and 8—and then to Guadalajara. What does 52 years feel like? To Sanguma, it’s “like we don’t matter. People get to be like, ‘Is that even a country? Do you guys exist?’”
“Our country was on the dark side for a long time. No sport, no…nothing. Politics messed up by the people,” says Lambion, an elder Congolese fan standing outside the JW Marriott the day before the match. “Congo is the most beautiful country in the world. People need to love the Congolese people instead of trying to destroy them because of our mineral resources.”
All but five of DRC’s 25-man squad grew up in France, Belgium, England, or Switzerland. Cédric Bakambu was born in a Paris suburb and won the Under-19 European Championship with France. He had never been to Congo when he chose to represent the nation at age 24. He is 35 now. “Il y a plus de temps passé que ce qui me reste,” he says. More time behind me than I have left. He has endured heartbreaking qualifying campaigns that ended in defeat to Tunisia, Morocco, and Senegal. But: “Whenever I score for my country, it genuinely feels like the first time.”
His Brussels-born teammate, Noah Sadiki, puts it simply: “Ton coeur te dit de le faire.” Your heart tells you to do it.
The day before the match, DRC president Félix Tshisekedi published a letter to the squad. He named 11 members of the last team to reach the promised land—“Kidumu, Kakoko, Kibonge, Mayanga, Kazadi, Bwanga, Lobilo, Mana, Ndaye Mulamba, Kembo, and Tshinabu”—and wrote: “Never forget that behind you, there is an entire people. There are children who dream as they watch you. There is our youth, searching for reasons to believe and to hope. There are also our fellow citizens being tested, notably in the east of our country, who will find a source of comfort, pride, and unity in your commitment.”
Axel Tuanzebe was born in Bunia, a city near the border with Uganda in that troubled east, but he was raised in Rochdale, England. He broke into professional football with Manchester United, and he still plays in the Premier League. But at the international level, he represents the DRC. He is about to have his moment.
The World Is Welcome In America
As these nations scrap to get to the World Cup this summer, they don’t exactly know what they’re in for. The competition’s main host, the United States, is lashing out at the world, hunting conflict across three continents. Four countries that have qualified are facing full or partial travel bans from the USA, and fans from those nations will struggle to obtain visas to attend. There’s a general vibe of hostility toward…everybody. “Follow your heart,” sure, though if you choose to represent a European country, it might be a smoother ride through American customs.