From the 11 million deaths amid the World Cup’s horror, the story of Zaire, which became the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tonight, the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces Portugal at the 2026 World Cup,
returning to the world’s biggest soccer stage for the first time in 52 years.
In 1974, however, it did not compete as the Democratic Republic of the Congo but as Zaire, representing one of the
most authoritarian regimes in postwar Africa. The story of that participation
is not merely about soccer. It is a story of colonialism, dictatorship, violence and
state propaganda.

The country we now know as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was originally the personal… property of
King Leopold II of Belgium. From 1885 to 1908, the so-called “Congo Free State
” was transformed into a vast system of forced labor for the
production of rubber. Historical estimates put the death toll at 10 to 11
million people (!), victims of starvation, disease, executions, and mutilation.
This colonial legacy left deep scars that affected the country’s subsequent course
.

After independence in 1960, chaos, civil conflicts, and the
assassination of the first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, followed. Amid this turmoil
, the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who definitively seized power
in 1965 with the support of the U.S. and Western powers during the Cold War.
For more than three decades, he ruled with authoritarianism, censorship, persecution, and
extreme corruption, amassing a personal fortune of billions of dollars while
the country sank into poverty.

Soccer served as a key propaganda tool. Zaire had won the African Cup of Nations twice
and reached the 1974 World Cup as the first
sub-Saharan African country to qualify for the final. Mobutu
viewed the national team as a showcase for his regime and had promised
huge bonuses to the players. However, when the team arrived in West Germany, the
national team players discovered that the money had vanished amid corruption within the state
apparatus.

Utter humiliation followed. After a 2-0 loss to Scotland, Zaire was crushed
9-0 by Yugoslavia, in one of the heaviest defeats in World
Cup history. Coach Blagoj Vidinić changed most of the starting lineup; the
players were mentally shattered, and Dušan Bajević scored a hat trick against
them.

Mobutu’s reaction was terrifying. According to reports, regime officials
traveled to Germany and threatened the players. The message was
clear: if they lost by more than four goals to Brazil in the final
match, they might not have a homeland to return to. The Brazilians
ultimately won by only 3-0, and the players escaped the worst. That match also produced the
famous scene of Mwepu Ilunga leaping over the wall and clearing the
ball before a free kick was taken, an image that for decades was misinterpreted as ignorance
of the rules, while he himself later spoke of panic and fear.

The punishment continued after the World Cup. Players were placed under surveillance,
transfers were blocked, and the team disbanded. The great Pierdaye Mulamba
never secured the transfer to Europe he had dreamed of and later endured years
of persecution, poverty, and exile.

That is why the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s presence at the World Cup today is not solely about
soccer. For many Congolese, it also represents a symbolic return to a
time when the national team did not simply represent a country, but was held hostage by a
regime that used soccer as a tool of power and left behind
one of the darkest chapters in World Cup history.

You can read more stories like this in a 640-page, large-format investigation,
in the book “The Secret World Cup,” published by Historical Quest