Full Time
Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo in their Group K opener in Houston, a result that raised some eyebrows given Portugal are supposed to be one of the favourites. João Neves headed them in front after six minutes, which felt like the start of a comfortable evening — it was not. Yoane Wissa nodded in an equaliser in first-half stoppage time, DR Congo held on with some comfort, and Cristiano Ronaldo spent the evening looking frustrated about it. It's DR Congo's first ever point at a World Cup, which is genuinely worth celebrating. Portugal still have plenty of time to recover, but they'll need to be considerably better — both teams have more to play for in their remaining two group games.
Pre-match Talking Points
-
1Portugal need a win to get Group K started on the right foot — they're in a group with Colombia as the other serious contender, so dropped points here would set up a nervous few weeks. DR Congo, meanwhile, just need to not embarrass themselves and keep their own knockout hopes alive going into the Uzbekistan match. Lose badly and this tournament is over before it starts. Win, and they've written one of the better stories of the group stage.
-
2These two have never played each other — this is genuinely the first time Portugal and DR Congo have met at a World Cup. For context: DR Congo last played in a World Cup in 1974, when they were still called Zaire, and they memorably conceded 14 goals in the group stage, including 9 to Yugoslavia. They qualified this time around with a 1-0 win over Jamaica in an intercontinental playoff, courtesy of an Axel Tuanzebe header in extra time. First time in 52 years. That's the whole story, really.
-
3All eyes will be on Cristiano Ronaldo, but the more interesting Portugal player to watch is Bruno Fernandes. He registered 21 assists in the Premier League this season — a record — and if he's linking play in the way he does at club level, Portugal are almost impossible to stop. Ronaldo gets the headlines and will probably score, but Fernandes is the one who makes it all tick. Worth watching how DR Congo try to close him down.
-
4DR Congo's preparations have not been straightforward. Aside from the challenge of facing one of the world's best teams in their opener, they've dealt with disruption caused by an Ebola outbreak back home in the build-up. Their coach Sebastien Desabre has been talking about 'measured risks' and 'no fear' — the kind of language that usually means 'we're going to sit deep and try not to get thumped.' Their four-man midfield and compact 4-4-2 is designed to frustrate, not to dominate.
-
5Ronaldo is playing in his sixth World Cup, which no one else has ever done. He's also scored in five different tournaments — again, nobody else. He did, however, get sent off in Portugal's penultimate qualifier and was only allowed to play here because FIFA suspended the ban until after the tournament. So the greatest World Cup goalscorer in history nearly missed this one due to a red card. If he scores today, the stat that will be read out on every broadcast is that he's scored in six consecutive World Cups. Even if you don't care about football, that's a number worth knowing.
Team Talking Points
-
1Portugal's World Cup ended in the round of 16, beaten 1-0 by Spain on July 6 — Mikel Merino, on as a substitute, scored deep into stoppage time to send the eventual finalists through instead. As cruel a way to go out as there is.
-
2That match very likely doubled as Cristiano Ronaldo's last-ever World Cup appearance, at 41. He'd equalised from the penalty spot in the previous round against Croatia, so it's not a bad way to bow out — a goal near the very end of a 20-year international career, even if the final result didn't go his way.
-
3The high point was that round of 32 win over Croatia, 2-1, settled by a Gonçalo Ramos header in the 94th minute after Ronaldo's leveller — and a controversial VAR call that chalked off what would have been a late Croatia equaliser. Proper knockout football drama.
-
4Portugal went unbeaten through the group stage (a draw with DR Congo, a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan, a goalless draw with Colombia) to finish runners-up in their group, before the round of 16 brought the run to a stop against the tournament's form team.
-
5For one of the traditional big footballing nations, a round of 16 exit is the kind of result that gets filed under 'quietly disappointing' rather than catastrophic — but with Ronaldo's international career very possibly now over, this tournament will be remembered for who was playing more than how far they got.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41, may well have played his last-ever World Cup game against Spain — scored a penalty the round before to bow out on a goal, which is more than most players get.
🚫
Avoid saying
Don't say 'Portugal always bottle it' — they went unbeaten through the group and lost to the eventual finalists by a stoppage-time sucker punch. That's not bottling it, that's just a rough final ten minutes.
-
1DR Congo's World Cup ended in the Round of 32 against England — they actually took the lead, before Harry Kane scored twice late on to send them out. Losing to England happens to a lot of teams; taking the lead against them first is the part DR Congo can be proud of.
-
2Just being there was already history: this was DR Congo's first World Cup in 52 years, and they became the first Congolese side ever to reach the knockout stage.
-
3The breakout story of their whole run was Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa, who scored three goals in the group stage — including DR Congo's first ever World Cup goal, a stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal that turned a defeat into a point.
-
4They backed that up with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, Wissa on the scoresheet twice more either side of a goal from Mayele — enough to send DR Congo through as one of the best third-placed teams in the tournament.
-
5A 52-year wait, a first ever knockout appearance, and a new star in Yoane Wissa to build the next cycle around — DR Congo's tournament ended in defeat, but it's hard to find much of a downside in how they got there.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
DR Congo hadn't been to a World Cup in 52 years, then Yoane Wissa scored their first ever goal in one, in stoppage time, to save a point against Portugal. However it ends, that's a story worth knowing.
🚫
Avoid saying
"Congo" on its own, or mixing them up with Congo-Brazzaville — this is DR Congo, a different country, and getting that wrong in front of an actual fan undoes any goodwill you built up mentioning the 52-year gap.