First African team played 1974 World Cup with threats

• Zaire won the 1974 African Cup of Nations
• It became the first football team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the World Cup
• Zaire World Cup 74 squad was in Group 2

Sports is one rare story you hear about in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, this wasn’t always the case, especially with the Zaire World Cup 74 showdown during the reign of former president Mobutu Sese Seko.

Mobutu was a feared leader due to his fist ruling approach between 1965 and 1997. He was so brutal that people feared him so much but he loved football and focused so much on it.  While he used state resources to fund the military and his secret police unit, the Special Presidential Division (DSP), to intimidate and crush his opponents; he used as much money to bolster sports in Zaire (now known as DRC).

Following Mobutu’s revolution to become president in 1965, unrest rocked Zaire five years after regaining its independence from Belgium. Mobutu changed the country’s name to Zaire and ordered his people to change their names in an effort to recover the country’s African heritage which the Belgians had eroded. He focused on sports and understood that football gave him the opportunity to popularize Zaire.

As a result, he demanded the repatriation of players who had fled to Belgium and made significant financial contributions to the game’s development back home. His approach worked as Zaire won the 1974 African Cup of Nations and became the first football team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the World Cup.

Mobutu Sese Seko, former President of Zaire now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo/First Time Finish

That’s how Zaire’s dream of playing in the World Cup came about before Laurent-Désiré Kabila overthrew him in 1998. Knowing his fate in the hands of Kabila whom he unsuccessfully tried to crush. Mobutu fled to exile in Morocco after his toppling but died a year later from cancer.

WHAT GROUP WAS ZAIRE IN THE WORLD CUP IN 1974?

Zaire World Cup 74 squad was in Group 2 together with Scotland, Brazil, and Yugoslavia. It was such a big deal having an African country feature in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. What stunned many was Mobutu’s move asking his people living in Belgium and other European countries to return home.

His directive intended to bolster his World Cup squad and also had a huge effect on fostering national pride and unity. Zaire’s qualification to FIFA World Cup instilled a sense of pride and he saw it fit to ask his people to return home and support the national team. Despite all this, Zaire lost all three of their group matches, conceding 14 goals and scoring none. However, it was a tough group to be in with such football champions.

Nevertheless, this made them the first team in World Cup history to finish the tournament with a zero goal difference. Despite their poor performance, Zaire World Cup 74 participation in the World Cup remains a monumental achievement. History has it that they are the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the tournament. Their performance inspired other African teams to follow in their footsteps.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ZAIRE IN 1974 WORLD CUP?

Drawn into Group 4, they faced formidable opponents such as Brazil, Scotland, and Yugoslavia. Zaire’s inexperience showed as they struggled to adapt to the intensity of international competition. Their most memorable moment came during a match against Brazil. Zaire’s defenders lined up for a Brazilian free-kick, but as the whistle blew, inexplicably, defender Mwepu Ilunga sprinted out of the wall and kicked the ball away, earning a yellow card.

It remains one of the World Cup’s most iconic and puzzling moments in football history that isn’t told enough. Zaire took in 11 goals from its matches, four of which were from Brazil. However, their final match against Scotland ended in a barren draw; 0-0 and this was it for them to heading back home.

Unknown to many people, the Zaire World Cup 74 squad was under intense pressure from Mobutu to redeem themselves. Mostly during their match with Brazil and none of them had hope of flying back home knowing too well Mobutu was a brutal military dictator capable of anything.

Mwepu Ilunga who played for the squad narrated the ordeal to the BBC in a past interview and painted a grim picture of how bad things were.

“After the match, he [Mobutu] sent his presidential guards to threaten us. They closed the hotel to all journalists and said that if we lost 0-4 to Brazil, none of us would be able to return home,” he recalls.

Zaire World Cup squad in 1974. Photo/Qatar Moments

WHAT HAPPENED IN ZAIRE VS BRAZIL 1974?

With Mobutu’s imminent threat to his squad, confusion and fear clouded the Zairians in their third World Cup match against Brazil. The match referee awarded Zaire a Zairian a free kick in the middle of the field, just beyond the penalty area. Ilunga who was that defender raced out of the defense wall and kicked the ball away as forcefully as he could before Brazil’s free-kick expert Rivelino took it on.

CONCLUSION

Zaire World Cup 74 paved the way for African teams to play at the FIFA World Cup. However, the dark side of it is that threats and fear drove the squad.