FIFA World Cup 2026: Wissa and Congo stop Portugal and Ronaldo; spoils shared in Group K opener

It took them 52 years to get back to this stage. A tiny fraction of that to get their first point.

At a packed Houston stadium, DR Congo held their more illustrious opponents, Portugal, to a 1-1 draw in their opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Roberto Martinez’s men, much fancied and one of the strongest sides on paper, failed to get out of second gear, leaving their fans and captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, frustrated as the sub-Saharans displayed energy, grit and plenty of defensive nous on the night.

When Joao Neves opened the scoring for Portugal, heading in Pedro Neto’s cross in the 6^th minute, it felt like a sign of things to come. However, that turned out to be their only shot on target for the rest of the night, as Les Leopards proved to be a tough team to break down.

Heading into the tournament, many experts had written Congo off as they had barely scraped into the World Cup, defeating Jamaica 1-0 in extra time in the inter-continental play-offs. The lesser highlighted fact is that they had defeated powerhouses Cameroon and Nigeria in the second round of the qualifiers.

Ronaldo, playing his sixth World Cup, was starved of chances up front as Portugal sought to pick the Congo lock, rather than aggressively try and blow the front door open. For all their intricate passing, most of the chance creation and build-up play started well out wide – a sign that they were trying to create chances for their captain.

On the couple of occasions that Portugal’s most decorated player did receive a couple of passes in the box, he was either crowded out or did not keep his shots on target.

Congo showed remarkable defensive discipline to close any gaps through the middle and hit Portugal on the counter, trying to get their own veteran striker Cedric Bakambu on the ball. The 35-year-old proved to be a menace as he tangled with Tomas Araujo and Renato Veiga all night, unsettling them and driving his team forward.

His efforts paid off as Congo equalised from a set piece deep into first half stoppage time. A corner was laid off quickly to Arthur Masuaku, who swung a fantastic ball in with his left. Yoanne Wissa, one of the smallest men on the pitch, was left unmarked with only the keeper to beat and made no mistake with his header.

The Newcastle striker, with only one Premier League goal to his name all season bagged his ninth goal in Congolese colours and his country’s first-ever World Cup goal. In 1974, they had lost all three of their games by an aggregate score of 14-0.

This performance was a far cry from that ill-fated campaign as they hounded and harried the Europeans all night – Samuel Moutoussamy in particular marshalling the midfield and covering every blade of grass on the pitch.

Had Bakambu been more accurate, Congo may have been celebrating all three points. The first golden chance of the second half fell to him as some neat link-up play set him up with a shot on the edge of the box, which he agonisingly blazed over.

He came much closer with the second one, turning with the ball inside the box and hitting the post, a stern warning shot to Portuguese hearts. Martinez’s side, however, showed more urgency in the last 20 minutes, with Francisco Conceicao and Rafael Leao on the wings, looking to break the tiring Congolese full-backs down.

The night, however, belonged to Congo’s iron-clad defensive quintet as they shut down all Portuguese attacks and earned an invaluable point.

Definitely disappointed with this draw, Portugal will look to bounce back against World Cup debutants Uzbekistan as Congo lock horns with Colombia next. Group K is wide open and promises to throw up some more memorable stories and results.

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