Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
DR Congo will be aiming to overtake Senegal in second place in Group B when they welcome Togo to their Stade des Martyrs on Sunday afternoon. The Leopards did well to hold Mane-less Senegal to a 1-1 draw in Diamniadio and they are now on a quest to return to winning ways in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Pyramids forward Fiston Mayele is pushing for a start after scoring as a substitute in the last group game, while there are no fresh injury worries in the home team.
Spartak Moscow midfielder Theo Bongonda should be recalled to the starting XI as well. Paulo Duarte’s troops, on the other hand, have drawn each of their first three group games. Togo are determined to record their first win of the process, but given DR Congo’s fine performance in the draw with Senegal, home win should be considered. Klousseh Agbozo is widely expected to replace Loic Bessile in Togo’s starting XI.
Highlighted Player (Cedric Bakambu):
Cedric Bakambu is considered one of the best African strikers. He was a French youth international and he played for les Tricolores at the 2010 UEFA U19 European Championship. France defeated Spain in the final of the tournament and that is regarded as Bakambu’s biggest success, speaking of his international career.
However, despite playing for France youth teams, Cedric Bakambu decided to represent DR Congo at senior level and he made his debut for the Congolese national team against Cameroon. He scored his first goal for DR Congo in a 2-1 win over Angola on 26 March, 2016. Speaking of his club career, the pacey attacker played for Sochaux from 2010 to 2014 and on 1 September, 2014 he moved to Bursaspor.
After scoring 13 goals in 27 league appearances for the Turkish outfit, Bakambu signed a five-year deal with La Liga side Villarreal on 19 August, 2015 and he has been playing for the Yellow Submarine ever since. The Congolese striker made his Villarreal debut on 23 August, 21015 in a 1-1 draw with Real Betis.
Highlighted Team (Togo):
The Togolese national football team are well known for the incident that happened at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. The Togo team bus was attacked by gunmen and it has to be noted that three men were killed during the attack. As a result, les Eperviers decided to withdraw from the tournament, but that decision proved costly for the Togolese national team.
The Confederation of African Football banned Togo from taking part in the next two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations and the Togolese Football Association were fined $50,000 as well. Speaking of their participation in the World Cup finals, Togo qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but they failed to impress in the group stages of the showpiece tournament, suffering a loss in each of their three group games against France, Switzerland and South Korea.
Emmanuel Adebayor is the most famous footballer who played for les Eperviers and you should know that the former Arsenal striker scored 31 goals in 66 appearances for the Togolese national team.