Coupe du Congo (DR Congo)

Coupe du Congo

Founded	1958
Region	DR Congo
Current champions	AS Simba (2025) (1 title)
Most championships	DC Motema Pembe (15 titles)
2025 Coupe du Congo

The Coupe du Congo is the top knockout tournament of the Congolese (DR Congo) football. It officially started in 1958 and it has served as the country's main competition to determine the national champion (1958-1989, and 1992-1997)) or the cup winner (1990-1991 and 1998-present).

History

In 1950 a cup tournament was played in a week-long competition with the final on May 1, 1950, at the Stade Leopold II in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi), with an attendance of over 40,000. Selctions of regional provincies participated instead of clubs.

The first official competition of the Coupe de l'A.R.S.C.U. was played in 1958. FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Elizabethville) was the first winner. The 1959 was not concluded and it was not held until 1963. In 1964 the Cup was renamed to Coupe du Congo and also served as the national championship from 1964 to 1989 and from 1992 to 1997. ^[a]

The tournaments for the sixth (1969) and seventh (1970) edition of the Coupe du Congo were not finished and the title was not awarded in either year, but TP Englebert (1969) and AS Vita Club (1970) were chosen to represent the country in the African Champions Cup in the following year. Those "titles" are not included in the list below.

While the Coupe du Congo served as the national championship before Linafoot was created, they were other competitions considered as cup tournaments: the Papa Kalala Challenge (1982-1989) and the Independence Cup (1992-1997). Since 1998, the Coupe du Congo is the country's primer Cup competition (likewise in 1991).

Format

The four tournaments from 1965 to 1068 were decided in a mini-group stage with three or four participants, and no final was played.

Name history

• 1958-59: Coupe de l'A.R.S.C.U. (as national championship)
• 1964-1971: Coupe du Congo (as national championship)
• 1972-1989: Coupe du Zaïre (as national championship)
• 1990-1991: Coupe du Zaïre (as national cup tournament)
• 1992-1996: Coupe du Zaïre (as national championship)
• 1997: Coupe du Congo (as national championship)
• 1998-present: Coupe du Congo (as national cup tournament)

List of finals

As national championship

Winner per year [1] Year Winner Score Runner-up 1958 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Elizabethville) 5-1 AS Vita Club (Léopoldville) 1959 Not finished 1960-1963 Not played 1964 CS Imana (Léopoldville) 3-1 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Elizabethville) 1965 AS Bilima (Léopoldville) FC Panda (Jadotville) 1966 TP Englebert (Elizabethville) Union Saint-Gilloise (Luluabourg) 1967 TP Englebert (Lubumbashi) Sporting (Kisangani) 1968 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1969-1970 Competition cancelled 1971 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 2-2 / 2-0 FC Renaissance (Kisangani) 1972 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 3-2 / 2-1 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 1973 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 9-1 / 2-1 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 1974 CS Imana (Kinshasa) 1-1 / 0-0 e SM Sanga Balende (Mbuji-Mayi) 1975 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) US Tshinkunku (Kananga) 1976 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 4-1 / 0-1 SM Sanga Balende (Mbuji-Mayi) 1977 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) AS Inga Sport (Inga) 1978 CS Imana (Kinshasa) 2-1 / 1-1 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 1979 AS Bilima (Kinshasa) 1-1 / 5-0 CS Mokanda (Mbandaka) 1980 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1-0 Lubumbashi Sport (Lubumbashi) 1981 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 1-1 / 1-1 pen. (5-4) AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1982 AS Bilima (Kinshasa) 1-0 / 1-1 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 1983 SM Sanga Balende (Mbujimayi) 1-1 /2-2 AS Bilima (Kinshasa) 1984 AS Bilima (Kinshasa) 0-0 / 3-0 OC Muungano (Bukavu) 1985 US Tshinkunku (Kananga) 1-3 / 2-0 AS Bilima (Kinshasa) 1986 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 0-1 / 2-0 BC Zaïre (Kinshasa) 1987 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1-0 / 4-0 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 1988 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1-0 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1989 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 0-0 / 2-2 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) As national cup Year Winner Score Runner-up 1990 not held 1991 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1-0 US Bilombe (Kinshasa) As national championship Year Winner Score Runner-up 1992 US Bilombe (Bilombe) FC Scibe (Matadi) 1993 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1-1 3-0 AS Bantous (Mbuji-Mayi) 1994 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1-2 4-2 SM Sanga Balende (Mbuji-Mayi) 1995 AS Bantous (Mbuji-Mayi) 0-0, 2-2 e AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1996 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 3-0 0-2 AS Bantous (Mbuji-Mayi) As national cup Year Winner Score Runner-up 1997 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 0-0 0-0 pen. (5-4) DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1998 AS Dragons (Kinshasa) 1-0 AS Sucrière (Kwilu Ngongo) 1999 AS Dragons (Kinshasa) 3-2 a.p. AS Paulino (Kinshasa) 2000 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 2-0 AS Saint-Luc (Kananga) 2001 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 3-0 AS Veti Club (Matadi) 2002 US Kenya (Lubumbashi) 2-1 SM Sanga Balende (Mbuji-Mayi) 2003 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 2-0 TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) 2004 SC Cilu (Lukala) 1-0 AS Saint-Luc (Kananga) 2005 AS Kabasha (Goma) 1-1 pen. (4-2) SC Cilu (Lukala) 2006 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 4-1 AS Dragons (Kinshasa) 2007 AS Maniema Union (Kindu) 2–1 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 2008 OC Bukavu Dawa (Bukavu) 2-0 DC Virunga (Goma) 2009 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 0-0 pen. (5-4) AS Dragons (Kinshasa) 2010 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 3-0 AS Ndoki a Ndombe (Boma) 2011 US Tshinkunku (Kananga) 1-1 pen. (4-3) AS Veti Club (Matadi) 2012 CS Don Bosco (Lubumbashi) 4-0 AS Veti Club (Matadi) 2013 FC MK Etanchéité (Kinshasa) 1-0 AS Vutuka (Kikwit) 2014 FC MK Etanchéité (Kinshasa) 1-0 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 2015 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 1-0 Katumbi FA (Lubumbashi) 2016 FC Renaissance (Kinshasa) 2-0 CS Don Bosco (Lubumbashi) 2017 AS Maniema Union 1-1 pen. (4-1) FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo 2018 AS Nyuki 2-1 JS Kinshasa 2019 AS Maniema Union 1-1 pen. (5-3) FC Renaissance (Kisangani) 2020 Compétition abandoned due to Covid-19 [2] 2021 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1-0 SM Sanga Balende (Mbuji-Mayi) 2022 DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1-0 Académic Club Rangers (Kinshasa) 2023 Cancelled' 2024 AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1-0 FC Céleste (Mbandaka) 2025 AS Simba (Kinshasa) 1-0 FC MK Etanchéité (Kinshasa)

Total titles per club

Club	Titles
DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) (Includes CS Imana)	15
AS Vita Club (Kinshasa)	10
AS Dragons (Kinshasa) (Includes AS Bilima)	5
TP Mazembe (Lubumbashi) (Includes TP Englebert)	5
AS Kalamu (Kinshasa)	4
FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi)	3
AS Maniema Union (Kindu)	3
FC MK Etanchéité (Kinshasa)	2
FC Lubumbashi Sport	1
AC Sodigraf (Kinshasa)	1
AS Vita Kabasha (Goma)	1
US Kenya (Lubumbashi)	1
SC Cilu (Lukala)	1
US Bilombe (Bilombe)	1
OC Bukavu Dawa (Bukavu)	1
US Tshinkunku (Kananga)	1
CS Don Bosco (Lubumbashi)	1
FC Renaissance (Kinshasa)	1
AS Nyuki (Butembo)	1
AS Simba (Kolwezi)	1

Records and statistics

• Pierre Kasongo was the first goalscorer in the history of the cup, in a 5-1 victory for St Eloi against AS Vita Club in the final on 27 December 1958.
• Pierre Ndaye Mulamba is the only player to have scored 6 goals in a cup final, in the final against FC Lupopo in 1973.
• Platini Mpiana is the only player to win the competition with 3 different clubs (AS Maniema Union in 2019, DCMP Imana in 2022 and AS Vita Club in 2024).

Players

Most finals

This list is incomplete.

Player	Total	Years won	Years lost
Ndaye Mulamba	7	1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1988	1981
Epangala Lukose	4	1993, 1994, 1997	1995
Platini Mpiana	3	2019, 2022, 2024
Pierre Kalala Mukendi	3	1966, 1967	1972
Kakoko Etepé	2	1974, 1978	-
Issama Mpeko	2	2010, 2024	-
Jean-Jacques Yemweni	2	1997	2009

Other DR Congo cup competitions

Governor General's Cup (1950)

It was played between regional or city selections during colonial time.

• 1950: Katanga - Léopoldville 2-1

Challenge Papa Kalala (1982-1989)

The winners qualified for the CAF Cup Winners Cup.

• 1982: AS Vita Club (Kinshasa)
• 1983: AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) - FC St-Eloi Lupopo (Lubumbashi) 2-1
• 1984: CS Imana (Kinshasa) - AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 1-2, 1-0 [Imana on away goals]
• 1985: DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) - FC Kalamu (Kinshasa) 2-0
• 1986: FC Kalamu (Kinshasa)
• 1987: FC Kalamu (Kinshasa)
• 1988: FC Kalamu (Kinshasa) - DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) 1-0
• 1989: FC Kalamu (Kinshasa)

Coupe de la Fécofa (2001-2003)

• 2001: Utexafrica (Kinshasa) - Inter (Kinshasa) 0-0 [aet, 4-1 pen]
• 2002: DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) - Inter (Kinshasa) 1-0
• 2003: abandoned

Coupe de l'Indépendance (1992-1997)

• 1992: DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) - AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 0-0 1-0
• 1993: DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) - AS Bilima (Kinshasa) 2-1
• 1994: DC Motema Pembe (Kinshasa) - AS Bantous (Mbuji-Mayi) 2-0
• 1995: AC Sodigraf (Kinshasa) - DC Mbongo Sport (Mbuji-Mayi) 4-0
• 1996: AS Bilima (Kinshasa) - AC Sodigraf (Kinshasa) 3-2
• 1997: AS Dragons (Kinshasa) - AS Vita Club (Kinshasa) 2-1

Jeux Congolais/Zaïrois (1967-1974)

Multisports events held on three occasions; the first two were staged in Kinshasa, the third in Lubumbashi.

• 1967: Katanga - Kinshasa 3-2
• 1972: CS Imana (Kinshasa)
• 1974: CS Imana (Kinshasa) - TP Englebert (Lubumbashi) 3-2

See also

• Linafoot
• DR Congo Super Cup

Notes

1. Some city name changes (mostly mid-1966):
   • Bakwanga to Mbuji-Mayi, Coquilhatville to Mbandaka,
   • Elisabethville to Lubumbashi, Jadotville to Likasi,
   • Léopoldville to Kinshasa, Luluabourg to Kananga,
   • Stanleyville to Kisangani, Thysville to Mbanza-Ngungu

References

1. "Congo-Kinshasa (DR Congo; formerly Zaire) Cup Winners". RSSSF . Retrieved 1 October 2011.
2. "FECOFA : la date du retour de la Linafoot connue, la Coupe du Congo annulée !". footrdc.com. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

External links

• Coupe du Congo at LeopardsFoot