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Rocky Bushiri

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Rocky Bushiri
Personal information
Full name Rocky Bushiri Kisonga[1]
Date of birth (1999-11-30) 30 November 1999
Place of birth Democratic Republic of Congo[2]
Position Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Hibernian
Number 33
Youth career
2014–2017 K.V. Oostende
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 K.V. Oostende 2 (0)
2018–2019 → Eupen (loan) 23 (0)
2019–2022 Norwich City 0 (0)
2019 → Blackpool (loan) 4 (0)
2020 → Sint-Truiden (loan) 7 (0)
2020–2021 → Mechelen (loan) 6 (0)
2021 → Eupen (loan) 1 (0)
2022 → Hibernian (loan) 14 (0)
2022– Hibernian 96 (6)
International career‡
2017 Belgium U19 2 (0)
2018–2019 Belgium U21 7 (0)
2023– DR Congo 4 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20 May 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 01:19, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Rocky Bushiri Kisonga (born 30 November 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Premiership side Hibernian and the DR Congo national team.

He has previously played for K.V. Oostende and Norwich City, spending almost the entirety of his spell at Norwich on loan at other clubs.

Bushiri was born in DR Congo, his family moved to Belgium soon after.[2] He played for Belgian under-19 and under-21 teams. He switched his international allegiance to DR Congo in March 2023, and made his full international debut for them later that year.

Club career

Oostende

Bushiri joined the youth academy of K.V. Oostende in 2012 after impressing in a provincial tournament representing Walloon Brabant.[3] He signed his first professional contract with Oostende in June 2017, for two years.[4] He made his professional debut in a 1–0 Belgian First Division A loss to KV Mechelen on 9 December 2017, becoming the youngest-ever debutant for Oostende.[5]

Norwich City

On 3 July 2019, it was announced that Bushiri would join Norwich City on a four-year deal, initially linking up with the U23 squad.[6] On 1 August 2019, Bushiri joined League One club Blackpool on a season-long loan deal.[7] Bushiri scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s in an EFL Trophy tie on 5 November 2019.[8]

On 30 June 2020, Bushiri went out on loan again, this time joining Mechelen on a season-long deal.[9]

On 26 January 2021, Bushiri moved to Belgium side KAS Eupen, on a loan deal until the end of the season.[10]

Hibernian

On 10 January 2022, Bushiri joined Scottish Premiership side Hibernian on loan for the remainder of the season, with an option to buy in the summer.[11] His number of appearances during the loan triggered that option, and he signed a three-year contract with Hibs in June 2022.[12]

After he played against Morton, whilst he was supposed to be suspended for receiving two cautions in earlier ties, Morton were awarded a default 3–0 victory which led to Hibernian being knocked out of the Scottish League Cup.[13] He played regularly during the first half of the 2022–23 season, but was then unavailable for more than three months due to an ankle injury.[14]

Bushiri scored his first goal for the club on 26 November 2024, scoring a 97th-minute equaliser in a 3–3 draw with Aberdeen.[15] That goal started a club-record run of 17 league games without defeat, with Bushiri featuring regularly as the team finished third in the Premiership.[16]

His contract with Hibernian expired at the end of the 2024–25 season, but he signed a new three-year deal with the club in June 2025.[16]

International career

Bushiri's grandfather, Albert Kisonga, was an ambassador to Belgium.[14] Bushiri represented Belgium in youth internationals up to and including the under-21 level, but changed his international allegiance in March 2023 so that he could play for DR Congo.[17] Bushiri was first selected by DR Congo in June 2023, for two Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches.[18] He made his full international debut in September 2023, playing in a friendly against South Africa.[19]

Bushiri was selected in the Congolese squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but was forced to withdraw after suffering an achilles tendon injury during the last match of the 2025–26 season.[20]

Career statistics

As of match played on 28 August 2025[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals Apps Goals AppsGoals AppsGoals
KV Oostende 2017–18[22] Belgian First Division A 2000— 6[c] 00080
Eupen (loan) 2018–19[22] Belgian First Division A 23021— 8[c] 000331
Norwich City 2019–20[23] Premier League 000000 ——00
2020–21[24] Championship 000000 ——00
2021–22[25] Premier League 000000 ——00
Total 000000 0 00000
Blackpool (loan) 2019–20[23] League One 400010 —2[d]171
Sint-Truiden (loan) 2019–20[23] Belgian First Division A 7000— ——70
Mechelen (loan) 2020–21[24] Belgian First Division A 6000— ——60
Eupen (loan) 2020–21[22] Belgian First Division A 1021— ——31
Hibernian (loan) 2021–22[25] Scottish Premiership 14010— ——150
Hibernian 2022–23[26] Scottish Premiership 1501040 ——200
2023–24[27] Scottish Premiership 2621020 5[e] 000342
2024–25[28] Scottish Premiership 2833140 0 000354
2025–26[29] Scottish Premiership 210000 6[f] 20083
Total 71651100 11 200979
Career total 1286103110 25 22117612
  1. Includes Belgian Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in EFL Trophy
  5. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  6. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League; four appearances and one goal in UEFA Conference League

International

As of match played 8 June 2025[30]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
DR Congo 202310
202410
202520
Total40

References

  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Blackpool" (PDF). English Football League. p. 6. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  2. https://www.nutmegmagazine.co.uk/issue-38/rocky-bushiri-hibs/
  3. "Debutant Bushiri (18) werkt ook op KVO-secretariaat".
  4. (belga) (3 June 2017). "Herhaalt KV Oostende succesverhaal Dimata? Kustboys halen weer spits bij Standard".
  5. "Jupiler Pro League - speeldag 18: KV Oostende - KV Mechelen 0 - 1". www.kvo.be.
  6. "Norwich City set to sign Belgium U21 international Rocky Bushiri". www.canaries.co.uk.
  7. "Rocky Bushiri: Blackpool sign Norwich City defender on season-long loan deal". BBC Sport. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  8. "Blackpool 1-0 Wolves' U21s: Rocky Bushiri's stoppage-time winner seals EFL Trophy qualification". blackpoolgazette.co.uk. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. "Rocky Bushiri moves to KV Mechelen on season-long loan". Norwich City F.C. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  10. "Rocky Bushiri moves to KAS Eupen on loan". www.canaries.co.uk. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  11. "Rocky Bushiri Joins Hibs From Norwich City!". Hibernian FC. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  12. "Hibernian: Rocky Bushiri signs permanent deal & Momodou Bojang joins on loan". BBC Sport. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  13. "Hibernian out of Scottish League Cup after fielding suspended Rocky Bushiri against Morton". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  14. McPartlin, Patrick (29 April 2023). "Rocky Bushiri big interview: Derby injury, Hibs comeback, and Congo DR decision". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  15. "Three stoppage-time goals as Hibs and Aberdeen draw 3-3". BBC Sport. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  16. "'Real leader' Bushiri extends Hibs stay until 2028". BBC Sport. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  17. McPartlin, Patrick (9 March 2023). "Hibs defender Rocky Bushiri makes national team decision following Belgium Under-21 caps". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  18. "Bushiri earns Congo call up". BBC Sport. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  19. "Bushiri's Congo DR debut ends in defeat". BBC Sport. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  20. "Hibs: Rocky Bushiri to miss World Cup". BBC Sport. 20 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  21. "Belgium - R. Bushiri - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  22. Rocky Bushiri at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  23. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  24. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  25. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  26. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  27. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  28. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  29. "Games played by Rocky Bushiri in 2025/2026". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  30. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Rocky Bushiri (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 31 August 2025.