Congo: Claude Le Roy appointed as the coach of the Red Devils, Omar Daf as assistant

The Ministry of Sports, Youth, and Civic Education of the Republic of Congo announced on Monday, June 9, the appointment of Claude Le Roy as the national coach of the Red Devils, accompanied by former Senegalese international Omar Daf as assistant coach, according to the official statement released the same day. The contract signing ceremony is set for June 22 in Brazzaville, under the presidency of Minister Hugues Ngouelondele and the president of the Congolese Football Federation (Fecofoot), Henri Endzanga.

Le Roy, 78, is making a comeback in the Republic of Congo, where he previously managed the Red Devils from December 2013 to November 2015 – a first term of 21 matches resulting in 13 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses. He succeeds coach Barthélémy Ngatsono, who had served as interim on the Congolese bench. Having worked at L’Équipe du soir and held consulting roles on Canal+, Le Roy had not managed a national team since the end of his contract with Togo in December 2020, marking his return to coaching after five years away. He also became a municipal councilor in Avignon in March 2026, elected on the list of journalist Olivier Galzi.

Omar Daf, born on February 12, 1977, in Dakar, has 55 caps with Senegal as a right-back. A quarter-finalist in the 2002 World Cup and finalist in the 2002 AFCON with the Lions, he spent most of his playing career at FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (1997-2009) before stints at Stade Brestois and Sochaux until 2013. Holding a UEFA Pro license, he subsequently coached FC Sochaux (2018-2022), Dijon FCO (2022-2023), and Amiens SC (2023-March 2026), and served as assistant to Aliou Cissé on the Senegal bench between 2016 and 2017.

An African Record Built Over Four Decades

Born on February 6, 1948, in Bois-Normand-près-Lyre, Normandy, Claude Le Roy began his coaching career in Amiens in 1980 before being approached in 1985 by the Cameroonian federation. With the Indomitable Lions, he won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1988, after reaching the final in 1986. Nicknamed the “White Wizard” – a name derived from his refusal to allow marabouts and witch doctors in his dressing room in Cameroon, which he attributes to his Breton origins and the figure of Merlin – he then managed Senegal (1989-1992), a second time with Cameroon during the 1998 World Cup, Ghana (2006-2008), Oman, where he won the Gulf Cup in 2009, Syria, twice the DR Congo, and from 2016 to 2020, Togo. He is one of the few European coaches to have managed over 300 official matches in Africa.

His first stint with the Red Devils enabled Congo to qualify for the 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea, where the team was eliminated in the first round. This result marked Congo’s first participation in the AFCON since 2000.

A Team Ranked 133rd in FIFA with Continental Ambitions

The Red Devils are ranked 133rd in the FIFA rankings as of April 2026. The captain is Béranger Itoua; the all-time top scorer for the team is Thievy Bifouma (16 goals). Congo’s only continental title dates back to the 1972 AFCON, won on home soil.

The immediate context of the appointment comes during the qualifications for the 2027 AFCON, with the group stage currently underway. Congo is placed in the qualifying group with the next matches scheduled for the second half of 2026. According to the statement, Fecofoot and the Ministry of Sports intend to “open a new cycle focused on rebuilding the national team, strengthening the coaching staff, and bringing the Red Devils closer to their supporters.”