The Democratic Republic of Congo secured qualification to the Round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday after recording a dominant 3-0 victory over Botswana in their final Group D fixture.
DR Congo took control of the contest midway through the first half, opening the scoring in the 31st minute through Nathanael Mbuku, who finished off an excellent team move with a low strike into the right corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
Gaël Kakuta doubled the advantage ten minutes later from the penalty spot, confidently dispatching his effort into the top-right corner to send DR Congo into the break firmly in command.
After the restart, Kakuta struck again in the 60th minute, latching onto a perfectly weighted pass, rounding the goalkeeper and calmly drilling the ball into the bottom-right corner to complete his brace and make it 3-0.
DR Congo appeared to have added a fourth goal shortly after when Fiston Mayele headed home from a well-delivered cross, but the effort was ruled out following a VAR review, with the goal disallowed for handball.
Despite the overturned goal, the Leopards remained in full control for the remainder of the match, comfortably seeing out the result to book their place in the knockout stage, while Botswana exited the tournament after a difficult group campaign.
Senegal and Benin, after finishing first and third in Group D, respectively, are also through to the Round 16 stage.
