Congo’s Cinderella story: How its World Cup tie in Houston was really a win for the Congolese diaspora – Houston Public Media

On Jun 18, 2026

Michael Adkison/Houston Public Media

Congolese fans celebrate the team’s opening World Cup match in Houston from the FIFA Fan Festival on June 17, 2026.

Six minutes into the Democratic Republic of Congo’s match against Portugal, one of the top soccer teams in the world, Portugal’s João Neves headed in a goal for his team. That moment seemed to spell trouble for the underdog Congolese team.

Tshiunza Kalubi, a Congolese Houstonian, sat in the crowd Wednesday at NRG Stadium, fearful of what that meant for Congo’s prospects at the 2026 World Cup. This was the nation’s first World Cup in more than half a century — and its first ever since the country became the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“You could tell the mood shifted in the stadium,” he said. “Everybody was like, ‘Man, we got scored on really early in the game. This is either going to be a rout, or this is going to be a 1-nothing game that we lose.’”

For Kalubi, and for the many Congolese fans in Houston, everything changed in the final moments of the first half. Congo’s Yoane Wissa scored a goal — the first ever in the World Cup for this team.

“We have history in Houston,” one of FIFA’s announcers said over the broadcast.

Kalubi, recounting the moment to Houston Public Media, said he hugged the person next to him, a stranger. He turned to his wife and shook her in excitement.

“We blacked out,” he said. “It was just pandemonium.”

It was a moment that reverberated across the city of Houston, where the Congolese soccer team has established its base camp for the World Cup. In southwest Houston, where hundreds of fans had gathered, car horns and screams burst as the Democratic Republic of Congo scored its first World Cup goal ever.

Congolese fans — The flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo flies outside the GSH Event Center on June 17, 2026.

The GSH Event Center, which hosted the official watch party for the “mobile embassy for sports and cultural tourism” according to a sign in French, became so crowded that not every fan was allowed inside to watch the game — to the frustrations of some fans.

“I drove all night to come by,” Mike Ungu, who traveled from Dallas for the game, told Houston Public Media. “I was trying to be happy to see how my team — the way they play. But up to now, I didn’t get the chance to watch yet.”

Eventually, the venue opened its doors to the fans overflowing outside the center — just as the match was finishing, in time to witness the momentous celebration for Congolese fans. In the end, the Congo Leopards had held off Portugal to end the match at 1-1.

Though it was a draw, fans said it may as well be a win for the underdog team.

On top of that, Congolese fans called this a reckoning for Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most popular players in the World Cup who has said this will be his last time to play in the tournament.

“I just have a question for my fellow Portuguese: who’s Cristiano Ronaldo?” Jeriel Citenda said with a laugh. He and his friend, Julien Muamba, taunted Congo’s next competitors: Colombia on June 23 and Uzbekistan on June 27.

“Uzbekistan, we’re coming for you like we overturned Portugal,” Muamba said. “Though Colombia, I’m a little bit scared, but I think we’ll be good.”

Even Congo’s one goal takes the team further than it ever has gone before. When the team qualified as the Zaire national soccer team in 1974, it played three matches without scoring a single goal, even losing 9-0 to Yugoslavia.

“After so many years, I just feel like they deserve to smile at least for once,” Lukoki Ngala said, wearing a hat she said she made for the Congolese team, with beads hanging down the brim. “I’m just very proud because I never get to experience them playing a game at this level.”

Congo’s team and fans, alike, also overcame the significant challenge of an epidemic of the Ebola virus in their home country. Thus far, Congo has reported some 837 confirmed cases and 196 confirmed deaths, though doctors suspect the real numbers are much higher. The U.S. government implemented travel restrictions from the Democratic Republic of Congo last month, which prevented many Congolese fans from traveling to Houston for the match.

“A lot of our fans didn’t travel because of the restriction of Ebola,” Eli Bayinbuk said. “We try to make sure the Congolese community in USA stay together to be here and to support our team. So, Congo is not only about Ebola, or struggling. It’s also football. It’s also about joy.”

Some fans were divided on whether to label the match as the result of overcoming the struggle of the Ebola outbreak. Some, like Samuel Akawa, said the achievement was a story of hard work and determination.

“If we are here, we deserve it,” he said. “If we are there, we have to justify why we are there. That’s what we’re doing when we’re on the field.”

Kalubi, sitting in the seats of NRG Stadium, said he grew emotional watching his team play Portugal to a draw.

For him, it was the opposite: this was a team that had overcome all odds.

“They bent, but they didn’t break,” he said. “And then, they scored like they did. That just shows that this team is special. They’re made of something special. And you can use that as a metaphor for the country, you know? We’ve had our backs against the wall, but we’re not breaking. We’re definitely not breaking.”

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