DR Congo stage comeback to beat Central African Republic at U-20 AFCON
- Omna Taddele
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
DR Congo rallied from behind to defeat the Central African Republic 3-1 on Monday in their 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Group C encounter at Suez Stadium. Two second-half goals in the space of nine minutes gave the Young Leopards their first win of the campaign.
It was CAR who started the game on a bright note, as Raphaël Nzabakomada gave them the lead after some shambolic defending from DR Congo in the 10th minute.
DR Congo mounted pressure on their opponents after falling behind, while CAR opted to sit back and defend. Tonny Talasi was twice denied by CAR goalkeeper Boarnages Malimoto. Nzabakomada turned from hero to zero before the interval after bringing down Faveurdi Bongeli. Malimoto denied Talasi’s penalty kick, but Noah Makanza equalized with the rebound.
Makanza completed his brace after the break with another rebound goal to give DR Congo the lead, following good work by Ibrahim Matobo.
Before the hour mark, Samuel Ntanda headed home to make it three, as DR Congo took home maximum points. DR Congo tops the group with four points from two matches, while CAR sits last with a single point.
DR Congo concludes the group stage with a challenging fixture against defending champions Senegal on Thursday. Central African Republic will likely need a victory to advance to the quarterfinals when they clash with Ghana, also on Thursday.
Group C Table
GP | Points | |
DR Congo | 2 | 4 |
Ghana | 1 | 1 |
Senegal | 1 | 1 |
Central African Republic | 2 | 1 |
The group winner and runner-up qualifies for the quarterfinals.
The two best third place teams from the three groups qualify for the quarterfinals.
