• Their previous meeting which was a world cup qualifier match ended in a 3-0 win for Congo.
• Both teams are placed in group F alongside Zambia and fourth place finishers in the Qatar 2022 World cup Morocco.
Image: COURTESY
DR Congo and Tanzania are the only East African teams to have qualified for the ongoing 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cote d’Ivoire and are set to battle it out for supremacy in the region.
The pair are set to face off on January 24 with the odds in the favour of Congo.
Their previous meeting, which was a World Cup qualifier match, ended in a 3-0 win for The Leopards.
Taifa Stars’ only win against them was in March 2018, when goals from Mbwana Samatta and Yahya Shiza Ramadhani at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium sealed a historic win for Tanzania.
Samatta, who is captaining the current Taifa Stars squad, will be gunning for a repeat of their triumph against their regional rivals to claim the bragging rights as East Africa’s best team.
Both teams are placed in Group F alongside Zambia and fourth-place finishers in the Qatar 2022 World Cup Morocco.
Congo kicked off their campaign in the tournament against Zambia with a 1-1 draw on January 17 at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro, Ivory Coast.
On the other hand, Taifa Stars suffered a humiliating thrashing at the hands of Morocco with goals from Romain Saiss, Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri sinking their hopes of a positive start to the tournament.
Taifa Star’s midfielder Novatus Dismas further received marching orders after a second yellow card was dished out to him in minute 70.
Congo currently sit in position 69 of the Fifa world ranking while Tanzania, regarded as the weakest side in the group, are placed 121. Zambia are ranked 84 whereas Morocco is the highest-ranked African team at position 13.
Congo have won the prestigious continental tournament twice in 1968 and 1974 beating Ghana and Zambia respectively.
They have qualified for the tournament 19 times.
The Leopards sealed qualifications to the tournament as winners of their group (Group I) ahead of Mauritania, Gabon and Sudan.
Tanzania have had two previous qualifications to the tournament first in 1980 and 39 years later in 2019.
They have, however, never progressed beyond the group stages only earning a single point over the previous two tournaments they were part of.
They qualified for Afcon as runners-up to Algeria in Group F ahead of neighbouring Uganda and Niger.
They were able to seal eight points from six games, the lowest tally from any qualifying team as well as the lowest goal difference.
After securing qualification for the continental tournament, they were awarded a sum of Sh2 million by the national government.
Besides the government’s pledge, the team also received Sh77 million from Caf (Confederation of African Football) for qualifying for the tournament.
Despite the early loss, Tanzania will be seeking to proceed beyond the group stages in the tournament which will in turn prove to be a vital boost ahead of the 2027 Afcon tournament which they will be co-hosting alongside Kenya and Uganda.
The trio submitted a joint bid dubbed ‘Pamoja’ to host the tournament, beating strong bids from Morocco, Algeria, Botswana, and five-time host Egypt.
Uganda have thrown their support behind Tanzania to conquer the group even though they secured a slot in the tournament at their expense.
They will, however, face a grueling task in Zambia, Congo and Morocco who are by far superior and have experience in the tournament.
Zambia won the tournament once in 2012 after edging out the current hosts 8-7 on penalties.
They have also secured a runner-up slot twice and a second runner-up slot three times. They have secured 17 qualifications for the tournament.
The Atlas Lions, who will be making their 19th appearance in the tournament, have only won one title in 1976 despite their dominance in the continent.
Their highest-ever finish after that came in 2004 when they were the runners-up in the event in Tunisia and emerged as eventual winners.
There has, however, been an aura of confidence in the Moroccan camp ever since their heroics in Qatar, and many fans and pundits alike see them as favourites alongside the host nation.