Dieumerci Mbokani

He was captain of the DR Congo national football team.

Dieumerci Mbokani

Mbokani with Dynamo Kyiv in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Dieudonné Mbokani Bezua
Date of birth	(1985-11-22) 22 November 1985 (age 38)
Place of birth	Kinshasa, Zaire
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004	Bel'Or	23	(16)
2005–2007	TP Mazembe	72	(67)
2006–2007	→ Anderlecht (loan)	9	(4)
2007–2010	Standard Liège	87	(39)
2010–2011	Monaco	10	(1)
2011	→ VfL Wolfsburg (loan)	7	(0)
2011–2013	Anderlecht	53	(33)
2013–2018	Dynamo Kyiv	54	(25)
2015–2016	→ Norwich City (loan)	29	(7)
2016–2017	→ Hull City (loan)	12	(0)
2018–2021	Antwerp	91	(43)
2021–2022	Kuwait SC	3	(3)
2022–2023	Beveren	23	(14)
2023–2024	Noah	10	(2)
International career‡
2005–2022	DR Congo	49	(22)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:35, 18 February 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:54, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

He has previously played for TP Mazembe, Anderlecht, VfL Wolfsburg, Monaco, Standard Liège, Norwich City, Hull City, Dynamo Kyiv, Al-Kuwait and Beveren.

Mbokani began his career at local side Bel’or and was a league topscorer in the 2004 season with 16 goals. Then he moved to TP Mazembe.

In the 2006–07 season, he made nine appearances for Anderlecht and scored four goals, including a hat-trick against Beveren on 7 May 2007. In 2007, he joined Standard de Liège and scored 35 goals in 81 league appearances.

On 30 July 2010, Mbokani signed a deal with French side AS Monaco, after spurning reported interest from Liverpool, for a fee in the region of €7 million.

After failing to impress in Ligue 1, on 9 August 2011, he signed a contract with Anderlecht for a reported fee of €3 million, stating that he looked forward to playing together again with his friend Milan Jovanović. The start of his spell at Anderlecht was dramatic, first injuring himself during one of his first training sessions, meaning he would be sidelined for at least two months. On 21 June 2013, Mbokani officially signed a contract with the Ukrainian club FC Dynamo Kyiv. On 14 July 2013, he scored his first goal in the very first game of the Ukrainian Premier League against Volyn Lutsk^{[citation needed]} during the first half, which ended 1–1.

On 31 August 2015, Mbokani was loaned out to English club Norwich City.

On 31 August 2016, Mbokani was loaned out to English club Hull City. Mbokani made his debut on 17 September 2016 when he came off the bench, after 77-minutes, as a replacement for Abel Hernández in a 4–1 loss at home to Arsenal.

On 20 June 2017, Mbokani was close to completing a transfer to Greek powerhouse Olympiacos but the deal did not ultimately go ahead as the player failed his medical.

In August 2018 he signed a one-year contract with Belgian club Royal Antwerp. He extended his contract with the club in June 2019.

On 14 August 2023, Armenian Premier League Noah announced the signing of Mbokani.

Mbokani represented the DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and 2015, helping them to third place at the latter tournament.

Mbokani was caught up in the 2016 Brussels bombings, alongside his international teammate Cédric Bakambu. Though both escaped unscathed, Mbokani was reportedly left "shaken". In the aftermath of this, after being sanctioned for missing a game as a result, he retired from international football with 31 caps. However, he returned to DR Congo's squad for the 2017 Cup of Nations in Gabon, and he was recalled to the national team in March 2019, although he withdrew due to injury.

Mbokani was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then called Zaire. The name "Dieumerci" means "Thank God" in French.

In August 2011, his five-month-old son, David Mbokani, died of a cardiac arrest in his sleep.

 

Club

As of 29 November 2023