LuaLua was first named by the DR Congo national team in the preliminary squad for the African Nations Cup finals in Mali in January 2002. He played in the 0–0 draw with Togo, 1–0 loss to Cameroon, 3–1 win over Ivory Coast and the quarter-final match against Senegal, which DR Congo lost 2–0 amid some controversy. LuaLua blamed the referee Domenico Messina for the defeat, "We had a lot of fouls which the referee didn't give and there was a penalty right in front of him but he just let the match go on, sometimes they [the Senegalese] fell over without being touched, screamed and the referee just gave the foul to them."