Chancel Mbemba facts for kids
![]() Mbemba with DR Congo at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Chancel Mangulu Mbemba | |||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 8 August 1994 | |||||||||||||||
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
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*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.
Contents
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
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
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
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.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 12 October 2015 | Stade de la Cité de l'Oie, Visé, Belgium | ![]() |
2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
2 | 10 June 2017 | Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo | ![]() |
3–1 | 1–1 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
3 | 5 September 2017 | Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo | ![]() |
1–0 | 2–2 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
4 | 7 July 2019 | Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt | ![]() |
2–2 | 2–2 (2–4 p) |
2019 Africa Cup of Nations |
5 | 10 January 2024 | Baniyas Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | ![]() |
1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
6 | 2 February 2024 | Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast | ![]() |
1–1 | 3–1 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations |
Awards and Achievements
Anderlecht
- Belgian Pro League: 2013–14
- Belgian Super Cup: 2013, 2014
- Belgian Cup runner-up: 2014–15
Newcastle United
- Championship: 2016–17
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
- Africa Cup of Nations bronze medal: 2015
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
In Spanish: Chancel Mbemba para niños