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DRC players qualify for the knockout stages of CAN 2019. Pierre René-Worms / RFI

The Congolese miracle took place in Egypt. The DRC will see the knockout stages of this CAN in favor of its last card against Zimbabwe in Group A on June 30 (4-0) and thanks to other results in the other groups. The men of Florent Ibenge will finish in the best third of the first round.

They did it ! The players from the Democratic Republic of Congo managed their crazy bet, which seemed so unreachable after their first two matches in the 2019 African Cup of Nations . During their last meeting in Group A, the "Leopards" crushed Zimbabwe (4-0) , erasing a big part of their delay and finishing in third place in this pool.

It was then necessary to wait for the continuation of the first round to know if the DRC would keep its place among the best third. The answer fell in the late evening on Monday, July 1st: it's a yes!

READ ► CAN 2019: Calendar, results and standings of the Africa Cup

South Africa and Kenya did worse than DRC

Thanks to its brilliant victory against Zimbabwe, the DRC achieved a big performance: that of erasing its bad goal difference, which went from -4 to 0. This criterion was very important in the race for the places of better third. There are four available for six candidates.

The meetings of this Monday, July 1st (group C and D) were particularly followed in Kinshasa and in all the homes of the fans of the "Leopards", because of their issues depended the fate of the Congolese selection. And the piece fell on the right side for Cédric Bakambu, Yannick Bolasie and the other players of the DRC.

The joy of the Congolese, qualified for the knockout stages of the CAN 2019. Pierre René-Worms / RFI

First, South Africa lost to Morocco (1-0). The Bafana Bafana are third in group D with 3 points and a goal difference of -1. Then, Kenya lost to Senegal (3-0) . The Harambee Stars are third in Group C with 3 points and a goal difference of -4.

Qualification assured for the DRC and Guinea, two more places to take

In the ranking of the best third, the DRC is therefore guaranteed to finish ahead of South Africa and Kenya. Regardless of the results of the last four games of groups E and F on Tuesday (Benin-Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau-Ghana, Angola-Mali and Mauritania-Tunisia); Leopards are mathematically assured of being in the top four best.

CAN 2019 continues for them, as well as for Guinea. There remain two places of better third to take. They will be for South Africa, Kenya, Benin, Tunisia, Angola, Mauritania, Ghana or Guinea-Bissau.