{"id":119678,"date":"2026-02-12T17:56:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:37:14","slug":"djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali","title":{"rendered":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Group C standings<\/p>\n<p>Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1)<\/p>\n<p>MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1),<\/p>\n<p>Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1)<\/p>\n<p>St Eloi Lupopo \u2013 5 points (-3)<\/p>\n<p>Although their chances appear slim, St Eloi Lupopo still have hope of reaching the CAF Champions League quarterfinals, according to star forward Maxwell Djoumekou.<\/p>\n<p>The Cameroonian striker, who previously played for Gasogi United, arrived in Kigali on Wednesday with the Congolese side ahead of their decisive Group C clash against leaders Al Hilal at Amahoro Stadium on Saturday, February 14.<\/p>\n<p>None of the four teams in Group C has secured qualification yet. Al Hilal, MC Alger, Mamelodi Sundowns, and Lupopo all remain in contention heading into the final round of matches.<\/p>\n<p>While Al Hilal \u2014 currently playing their home matches in Kigali \u2014 need only a draw to qualify, Lupopo must win to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive. Any result other than victory would eliminate the Congolese side.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the daunting task, Djoumekou remains confident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are here to win. We know we are facing a good team that has been resilient throughout the group stage, but we must approach the game looking for victory,\u201d Djoumekou said.<\/p>\n<p>The first meeting between the two sides in Lubumbashi ended in a 1-1 draw. Lupopo were also held to a 1-1 draw at home by Mamelodi Sundowns in their fifth group match \u2014 a result that left them needing maximum points in Kigali.<\/p>\n<p>Djoumekou, who played a key role in Lupopo\u2019s win over MC Alger and featured in draws against Al Hilal and Sundowns, believes returning to Kigali \u2014 where he once played for Gasogi United \u2014 could inspire him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am happy to return here again, and I must show what I can do if I get the chance to play. We are here with one mission as a team, and we believe we can achieve our target,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Currently bottom of Group C with five points, Lupopo still control their destiny. Assistant coach Karim Hendou also expressed optimism despite the pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe drew, but for me, we played a very good match \u2014 especially in the first half when we scored before conceding from a set piece in the second half,\u201d Hendou said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have one match left. To qualify, we must win \u2014 and we will win in Kigali.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>What it takes to qualify<\/b><\/p>\n<p>All four teams still have a realistic chance of advancing.<\/p>\n<p>Mamelodi Sundowns, the 2016 champions, must defeat MC Alger at home in Pretoria. A failure to win could result in an early exit and potentially spell the end of Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n<p>MC Alger need at least a draw to improve their chances. However, if Lupopo defeat Al Hilal, the group could become extremely tight.<\/p>\n<p>If Lupopo win and MC Alger draw, Al Hilal, MC Alger, and Lupopo would all finish on eight points. In that scenario, a mini league based on head-to-head results among the tied teams would determine the two qualifiers.<\/p>\n<p>If Sundowns win and Lupopo also secure victory, the Congolese side would advance ahead of Al Hilal on head-to-head advantage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupopo \u2013 5 points (-3) Although their chances appear slim, St Eloi Lupopo still have hope of reaching the CAF Champions League quarterfinals, according to star forward Maxwell Djoumekou. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":119677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[6264,2022,758,8897],"class_list":["post-119678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-al-hilal","tag-caf-champions-league","tag-rwanda","tag-saint-eloi-lupopo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupop ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupop ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T17:56:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T18:37:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-12T17:56:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-12T18:37:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\"},\"wordCount\":523,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Al Hilal\",\"CAF Champions League\",\"Rwanda\",\"Saint-\u00c9loi Lupopo\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\",\"name\":\"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali - Rwanda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-12T17:56:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-12T18:37:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupop ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666,\"caption\":\"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\",\"name\":\"Rwanda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali - Rwanda","description":"Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupop ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali","og_description":"Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupop ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali","og_site_name":"Rwanda","article_published_time":"2026-02-12T17:56:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-12T18:37:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":666,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali","datePublished":"2026-02-12T17:56:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-12T18:37:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali"},"wordCount":523,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg","keywords":["Al Hilal","CAF Champions League","Rwanda","Saint-\u00c9loi Lupopo"],"articleSection":["all news","Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali","name":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali - Rwanda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-12T17:56:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-12T18:37:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Group C standings Al Hilal \u2013 8 points (+1) MC Alger \u2013 7 points (+1), Mamelodi Sundowns \u2013 6 points (+1) St Eloi Lupop ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770908771.805653.jpg","width":1000,"height":666,"caption":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/djoumekou-still-hopeful-as-st-eloi-lupopo-eye-win-in-kigali#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Djoumekou still hopeful as St Eloi Lupopo eye win in Kigali"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/","name":"Rwanda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}