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Chancel Mbemba
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Mbemba with DR Congo at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name Chancel Mangulu Mbemba
Date of birth (1994-08-08) 8 August 1994 (age 30)
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 63 (6)
2015–2018 Newcastle United 54 (1)
2018–2022 Porto 87 (5)
2022–2025 Marseille 61 (7)
International career
2012– DR Congo 95 (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

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 and Hazard
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
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 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 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

Awards and Achievements

Newcastle United vs Southampton, 9 August 2015 (21)
Mbemba (number 18) playing for Newcastle in August 2015

Anderlecht

  • Belgian Pro League: 2013–14
  • Belgian Super Cup: 2013, 2014
  • Belgian Cup runner-up: 2014–15

Newcastle United

Porto

  • Primeira Liga: 2019–20, 2021–22
  • Taça de Portugal: 2019–20, 2021–22
  • Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2018, 2020
  • Taça da Liga runner-up: 2018–19, 2019–20

DR Congo

Individual Awards

  • Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2021–22
  • UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2022–23
  • Prix Marc-Vivien Foé: 2022–23
  • CAF Team of the Year: 2023, 2024
  • Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2023

See also

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