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Former two-time champions, the Democratic Republic of Congo, have kicked off their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with victory over Benin at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat.
Former two-time champions, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have kicked off their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign with victory over Benin at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat.
In a first meeting between these two nations at an AFCON tournament, the DRC scored the only goal of the match on 16 minutes when Theo Bongonda pounced on a defensive blunder in the Benin box.
The DRC who lost to Bafana Bafana in the bronze medal match in Ivory Coast last year, thought they had a second two minutes into the second half, but the VAR intervened and Cedric Bakambu’s goal was disallowed due to an off-side.
The DRC’s next take is Senegal, while Benin will turn their attention to their second Group D match against Botswana in the Moroccan capital on Saturday, still searching for a first win in five AFCON tournament appearances.
FULL-TIME | 🇨🇩 DR Congo 1-0 Benin 🇧🇯
Theo Bongonda’s first-half strike seals all three points for DR Congo as they start their #AFCON2025 journey with a win. 💪👏#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 #AfricaSoccerZone pic.twitter.com/yXJrfBe6Ei
— Africa Soccer Zone (@AfricaSoccer_zn) December 23, 2025
