MATCH STATS: Senegal vs DR Congo – TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Group D

Winners in their opening matches, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo will target a second victory that would secure qualification for the knockout stage when they meet in their second Group D fixture at the Grand Stade de Tanger on 27 December. Kick-off is at 16h00 local time (15h00 GMT).

This will be the third meeting between Senegal and DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations finals. Their first AFCON encounter came in 1968 in their final group match, when DR Congo won 2–1 to advance to the semi-finals alongside Ghana. DR Congo would go on to lift the AFCON title that year.

Their most recent AFCON meeting was in the quarter-finals of the 2002 edition, when Senegal won 2–0 thanks to goals from Salif Diao in the 30th minute and El Hadji Diouf in the 86th minute. Senegal went on to reach their first AFCON final in 2002, finishing runners-up to Cameroon.

Overall, this is the 11th meeting between the two nations. Senegal have won six matches, DR Congo two, with two draws. Senegal are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with DR Congo (W6 D2). DR Congo last defeated Senegal in a friendly international in 1969, a 4–0 victory.

The two sides most recently met in qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The first match, played in Senegal on 6 June 2024, ended in a 1–1 draw, with Ismaïla Sarr putting Senegal ahead in first-half stoppage time before Fiston Mayele equalised in the 85th minute.

Their second meeting in World Cup qualifying took place in Kinshasa on 9 September 2025 and ended in a 3–2 win for Senegal. Cédric Bakambu and Yoane Wissa had given DR Congo a 2–0 lead before goals from Pape Gueye (39’), Nicolas Jackson (53’) and Pape Matar Sarr (87’) completed the comeback. Senegal qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while DR Congo are still seeking qualification via an intercontinental play-off.

Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw was also in charge when Senegal defeated DR Congo 3–0 in the group stage of the 2022 TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship, a tournament Senegal went on to win. As a player, Thiaw was an unused substitute at the 2002 AFCON quarter-final win over DR Congo.

PAST MEETINGS

OVERALL
Senegal: P10 W6 D2 L2 GF18 GA12 GD+6
DR Congo: P10 W2 D2 L6 GF12 GA18 GD-6

AFCON ONLY
Senegal: P2 W1 D0 L1 GF3 GA2 GD+1
DR Congo: P2 W1 D0 L1 GF2 GA3 GD-1

PAST AFCON MEETINGS
16 January, 1968, Group B
DR Congo 2 (Kudumu, Tshimanga pen) Senegal 1 (Diouck)

04 February, 2002, Quarter-final
Senegal 2 (Diao 30’, Diouf 86’) DR Congo 0

Senegal – Key Statistics

·       Senegal recorded the joint-biggest win of the opening round with a 3–0 victory over Botswana.

·       They have won their opening match in each of their last six AFCON appearances, equalling their longest such run (also between 1976 and 1988).

·       Senegal are unbeaten in their last eight AFCON group-stage matches (W6 D2).

·       This equals their longest unbeaten run in AFCON group matches, previously achieved between 2000 and 2006 (W5 D3).

·       That previous run ended with a defeat to Ghana in their second group match in 2006.

·       Senegal’s last group-stage defeat came in their second match of the 2019 tournament against Algeria.

·       They are unbeaten in their second group match in the last two AFCON tournaments, beating Cameroon in 2023 and drawing with Zimbabwe in 2021.

·       They last lost their second group match in 2019, a 1–0 defeat to eventual champions Algeria.

·       The last two teams to defeat Senegal in their second group match, Zambia in 2012 and Algeria in 2019, went on to win the AFCON title.

·       Senegal have opened an AFCON with a win followed by a loss in their second match on four occasions: 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2019.

·       On the last two occasions (2006 and 2019), Senegal reached at least the semi-finals despite losing their second match.

·       Senegal have started AFCON tournaments with successive wins on four previous occasions: 1986, 2002, 2017 and 2023.

·       They won their opening two matches at the 2023 edition against Gambia and Cameroon.

·       Senegal are unbeaten in their last 12 AFCON matches in open play (W8 D4).

·       Their last open-play defeat at AFCON was against Algeria in the 2019 final.

·       Senegal registered 17 shots on target against Botswana, the most by any team in a single match at AFCON 2025 and the highest on record at the tournament.

·       Sadio Mané attempted nine shots against Botswana, with six on target, the most by any player in the opening round.

·       Idrissa Gueye attempted 116 passes and completed 106 against Botswana, the most by any player in the match.

·       The clean sheet against Botswana was Senegal’s 10th in their last 13 AFCON group matches.

·       Nicolas Jackson has scored six goals in his last five starts for Senegal in all competitions, after scoring once in his first 10 starts.

·       Jackson became the second Senegalese player in succession to score a brace in an AFCON opening match, following Lamine Camara against Gambia in 2023.

·       Senegal have scored in each of their last five AFCON matches and will be aiming to extend that run to six.

·       Cheikh Ndiaye’s goal, Senegal’s third against Botswana, was their 90th goal at AFCON finals.

DR Congo – Key Statistics

·       DR Congo opened their campaign with a 1–0 victory over Benin.

·       Théo Bongonda scored the winning goal, which was DR Congo’s 95th at AFCON finals.

·       DR Congo have won two of their last four AFCON opening matches (D1 L1), after winning just one of their previous six openers (D3 L2).

·       They have progressed to the knockout stage on every occasion they have won their opening match at AFCON, including during their title-winning campaigns in 1968 and 1974.

·       DR Congo have extended their unbeaten run in AFCON group matches to five (W2 D3).

·       They last won their opening match in 2019, defeating Uganda, but then lost their second group match to hosts Egypt.

·       DR Congo have not won their second group match at AFCON since 1996, when they defeated Liberia 2–0, failing to do so in their last 11 tournament appearances.

·       They have never started an AFCON with successive wins, including in their title-winning tournaments in 1968 and 1974.

·       In 1968, they defeated Congo 3–0 before losing 2–1 to Ghana, then beat Senegal in their final group match.

·       In 1974, they beat Guinea 2–1, lost 2–1 to Congo, and then defeated Mauritius 4–1.

·       Each of DR Congo’s last two goals at AFCON has been scored by players aged 30 or over: Arthur Masuaku (30 years, 87 days) in 2023 and Théo Bongonda (30 years, 33 days) in this tournament. None of their previous 28 AFCON goals had been scored by players in their thirties.

·       Masuaku has been involved in a goal in two of his last three AFCON appearances, scoring once and providing one assist.

·       DR Congo had 40% possession against Benin.

·       They completed 224 passes against Benin, compared to 380 by their opponents.