The DR Congo national team have ended their Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign on a negative note as they succumbed to another defeat as they lost 2-1 at home to Ethiopia yesterday in Kinshasa.
Already-qualified after winning all of their opening four matches, the Leopards were have suffered back-to-back defeats to Guinea and Ethiopia in the last round of qualifiers.
Leopards coach Sebastien Desabre made a number of changes to his team with players who had previously seen less minutes including Peter Kioso, Dylan Batubinsika, Ngal’ayel Mukau and Nathanaël Mbuku all making their their debut starts alongside Noah Sadiki, Fiston Mayele and Silas Katompa.
Ethiopia opened the scores in the 36th minute through Bereket Desta Dana to into the half-time break holding the lead.
The Leopards finally got their equalizer came at the death of the match as Dylan Batubinsika nodded home from a deflected a cross delivered Meschack Elia in regulation time.
However, the Leopards and the local fans’ jubilation was short-lived as Mohammed Nassir restored the lead for the visitors after beating goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi on the counter to seal the victory for Ethiopia.
Despite the back-to-back defeats, the DR Congo nevertheless finished top of Group G with 12 points, ahead of Tanzania with 10 points, who also secured qualification for AFCON 2025.
