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Chancel Mbemba

Mbemba with DR Congo at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

Personal information

Full name

Chancel Mangulu Mbemba

Date of birth

8 August 1994 (age 31)

Place of birth

Kinshasa, Zaire

Height

1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)

Position(s)

Centre-back, full-back

Youth career

2006–2007

E.S. La Grace

2007–2008

Mputu

2008–2012

MK Etanchéité

2012–2013

Anderlecht

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps

(Gls)

2013–2015

Anderlecht

(6)

2015–2018

Newcastle United

(1)

2018–2022

Porto

(5)

2022–2025

Marseille

(7)

International career^‡

2012–

DR Congo

(6)

Medal record

Men's Football

Representing DR Congo
Africa Cup of Nations
Bronze	2015 Equatorial Guinea

*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2025

Chancel Mangulu Mbemba (born on August 8, 1994) is a professional footballer from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is the captain of his country's national team.

Mbemba started his career at Anderlecht in Belgium. He helped them win the Belgian Pro League in his first season (2013–14). A year later, he joined Newcastle United in England. There, he played in the Premier League and won the Championship in 2017.

He then spent four years at Porto in Portugal. With Porto, he won the Primeira Liga (the top league) and the Taça de Portugal (a cup competition) in both 2020 and 2022. Since 2012, Mbemba has played for the DR Congo national team. He has played over 90 games for his country. He has also played in five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, helping his team finish third in 2015.

Early Life and Background
Club Career Highlights
International Career
Career Statistics
- Club Appearances
- International Appearances
Awards and Achievements
See also

Early Life and Background

Mbemba grew up in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was one of nine children in his family. His mother, Antoinette, was a talented basketball player who played for the DR Congo national team.

When Mbemba became a professional player, there were some questions about his exact birth date. Different documents showed different years, from 1988 to 1994. Mbemba himself said he was born in 1990 at one point. However, when he signed with Newcastle, he stated his birth year was 1994 and provided proof to confirm it.

Club Career Highlights

Starting at Anderlecht

Chancel Mbemba played for several youth clubs in Kinshasa, including E.S. La Grace and FC MK Etanchéité. In 2012, he moved to Belgium to join Anderlecht. At first, he mostly played for Anderlecht's reserve and youth teams. He even asked for a special bone scan to help clear up any rumors about his age.

On July 21, 2013, Mbemba was a substitute when Anderlecht won the Belgian Super Cup. He made his first team debut a week later in a league match against Lokeren. During the 2013–14 season, he scored five goals in 35 games. His team won the league title that season. He even won the league's Player of the Month award in October after scoring a goal against Mons.

Mbemba also played in the 2014 Belgian Super Cup, which Anderlecht won 2–1. In the 2014–15 season, he played 28 games. Anderlecht finished third in the league and were runners-up in the 2014–15 Belgian Cup, losing to Club Brugge in the final.

Time at Newcastle United

Mbemba (left) playing against Chelsea's Eden Hazard in 2017

On July 26, 2015, Premier League club Newcastle United announced they had signed Mbemba. Four days later, he officially joined the club with a five-year contract. He played his first game for Newcastle on August 9, 2015. It was a 2–2 draw at home against Southampton on the first day of the Premier League season.

Mbemba scored his only goal for Newcastle on May 7, 2017. It was in a 3–0 home win against Barnsley. On the very same day, Newcastle won the EFL Championship title, which meant they were promoted back to the Premier League after being relegated the year before.

Success with Porto

On July 23, 2018, Mbemba moved to Portugal to join Primeira Liga team Porto. He made his debut for Porto on October 31, 2018, in a cup game against Varzim. His league debut came a few days later as a substitute against Marítimo. In his first season, he played only a few league games and also played twice for Porto's reserve team.

Mbemba scored his first goal for Porto on November 24, 2019. It was in a 4–0 win against Vitória de Setúbal in the Taça de Portugal cup. On March 7, 2020, he scored his first league goal for Porto in a 1–1 draw against Rio Ave. Porto went on to win the league title that season. On August 1, 2020, Mbemba scored both goals in a 2–1 win against Benfica in the Taça de Portugal Final, helping Porto win the cup.

Joining Marseille

On July 15, 2022, Mbemba signed a three-year contract with Marseille in France. He joined them for free. He played his first game for Marseille on August 7, 2022, in a 4–1 home win against Reims. He scored his first goal for the club in his third game, on August 20, in a 2–1 win against Nantes. Both games were played at the Stade Vélodrome. On September 7, he was sent off (given a red card) in a Champions League match against Tottenham Hotspur.

International Career

Mbemba first played for the DR Congo on June 17, 2012. It was a 3–0 home win against the Seychelles in a qualifying match for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. He was part of the team for the 2013 tournament but did not play.

He was also in the squad that finished third at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. He scored a penalty in the shootout that helped his team win the bronze medal against the host nation.

On October 13, 2015, Mbemba scored his first goal for his country. It was a late goal from far away in a 2–1 friendly win against Gabon in Belgium. He also played in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2019. In the 2019 tournament in Egypt, he scored a late header in a 2–2 draw against Madagascar. However, his team lost the game in a penalty shootout.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Anderlecht	2013–14	Belgian Pro League	35	5	0	0	—		5	1	0	0	40	6
	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	28	1	2	0	—		6	2	1	0	37	3
	Total		63	6	2	0	0	0	11	3	1	0	77	9
Newcastle United	2015–16	Premier League	33	0	1	0	1	0	—		—		35	0
	2016–17	Championship	12	1	0	0	1	0	—		—		13	1
	2017–18	Premier League	9	0	1	0	1	0	—		—		11	0
	Total		54	1	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	59	1
Porto B	2018–19	Liga Portugal 2	2	0	—		—		—		—		2	0
Porto	2018–19	Primeira Liga	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
	2019–20		26	2	6	4	5	0	5	0	—		42	6
	2020–21		27	1	4	0	1	0	10	0	1	0	43	1
	2021–22		31	2	6	0	1	0	9	0	—		47	2
	Total		87	5	18	4	8	0	24	0	1	0	138	9
Marseille	2022–23	Ligue 1	36	5	4	0	—		5	2	—		45	7
	2023–24	Ligue 1	25	2	0	0	—		15	4	—		40	6
	Total		61	7	4	0	—		20	6	—		85	13
Career total			267	19	26	4	11	0	55	9	2	0	361	31

International Appearances

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
DR Congo	2012	2	0
	2013	2	0
	2014	4	0
	2015	14	1
	2016	7	0
	2017	12	2
	2018	4	0
	2019	10	1
	2020	2	0
	2021	8	0
	2022	2	0
	2023	8	0
	2024	16	2
	2025	4	0
Total		95	6

Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbemba goal.

List of international goals scored by Chancel Mbemba
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 October 2015	Stade de la Cité de l'Oie, Visé, Belgium	Gabon	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2	10 June 2017	Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo	Congo	3–1	1–1	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3	5 September 2017	Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo	Tunisia	1–0	2–2	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	7 July 2019	Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt	Madagascar	2–2	2–2 (2–4 p)	2019 Africa Cup of Nations
5	10 January 2024	Baniyas Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Burkina Faso	1–2	1–2	Friendly
6	2 February 2024	Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast	Guinea	1–1	3–1	2023 Africa Cup of Nations