Four DR Congo players standing indoors in matching black-tie suits with leopard details and dark sunglasses.
One thing you can always look forward to at the World Cup, besides the football, is the looks the teams arrive in — and DR Congo’s Léopards have wasted absolutely no time making their mark on that front. The Léopards of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have arrived at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in outfits that are generating serious attention for all the right reasons.
The arrival suit, designed by Alvin Junior Mak of JMAKxPARIS, is a classic black single-breasted blazer with a striking asymmetric panel of leopard print fabric running across the left shoulder and chest in a curved, wave-like shape that is integrated directly into the suit’s construction. A metallic gold lapel pin depicting a leaping leopard sits on the lapel, a small but pointed detail that reinforces the national identity at the heart of the design. The suit is grounded with a white formal shirt, a slim black tie, black trousers, and polished black leather dress shoes. The result is formal and unmistakably Congolese.
DR Congo team members walking through an airport terminal with luggage and matching leopard-print statement tote bags.
The design draws deliberate inspiration from two sources — the Léopards squad of 1974, when Zaire became the first sub-Saharan African nation to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and the Sape, the celebrated Congolese culture of elegant dressing that has long been one of the country’s most distinctive cultural exports.
Alvin Junior Mak described the creation as a tribute to those who dare to dream bigger and carry a nation’s colours with pride, writing in French: “Elegance is a way of wearing one’s history. Conceived as a homage to the Léopards of 1974 and the spirit of the Congolese Sape, this creation celebrates those who dare to dream bigger and carry high the colours of a nation. A nation behind them, a dream ahead of them.”
One of ten African nations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, DR Congo are making their second World Cup appearance and their first since 1974 — which makes the nod to that historic squad in the design all the more meaningful. The football is yet to begin for the Léopards, but on the style front, they have already made a statement.
DR Congo player with an afro hairstyle recording a video on his phone while walking in his official World Cup suit jacket.
DR Congo football players and staff posing indoors on leather sofas in their leopard-print theme formal wear.
Four DR Congo players standing indoors in matching black-tie suits with leopard details and dark sunglasses.
Full squad of DR Congo football team seated outdoors in uniform black suits featuring gold leopard pins and animal-print sashes.
DR Congo football player on an escalator in a custom black suit with an asymmetric leopard-print panel for the 2026 World Cup.
DR Congo team members walking through an airport terminal with luggage and matching leopard-print statement tote bags.
The DR Congo national football team squad seated in rows on grass wearing matching leopard-print panelled suits.
Photo Credit: Alvin Junior Mak and CAF
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