Congo’s soccer team arrives in Houston, where the Texas heat impacted a crowded FIFA Fan Festival – Houston Public Media

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s national soccer team landed in Houston on Thursday, arriving at its Galleria hotel to the screams and cheers of its fans in the Congolese diaspora.

There was just as much excitement in East Downtown, where a FIFA Fan Festival marred by heat reached its capacity not long after opening.

After landing at Bush Intercontinental Airport on Thursday afternoon — as the inaugural match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup was underway — the team from Congo made its way into the city. The team will be based in Houston throughout the tournament, with its opening match scheduled for June 17 in Houston.

As the players, coaches and support staff arrived at their hotel, a drumline outside cheered them on as fans screamed for them inside.

Back in their home country in Central Africa, there is a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus.

“This is an opportunity for Congo to set a different pace, a different image, a different history, for the rest to come,” Marcus Mpwo, a Houstonian born and raised in Congo, told Houston Public Media. “For the most part, we’re known for poverty. We’re known for bad politics, not being able to govern ourselves. But this gives us another opportunity to really set the stage for what’s to come. Kids today will see Congo playing at the world stage and know that, yeah, it’s possible.”

After entering the hotel, to thunderous cheers from their fans, the team members posed for pictures on the stairs of the hotel before making their way to their rooms. Afterward, the city of Houston’s chief of international affairs, Gigi Lee, and president of the city’s World Cup host committee, Chris Canetti, presented gifts to the ambassador of Congo.

Michael Adkison/Houston Public Media

“I’m very proud,” Ambassador Yvette Kapinga Ngandu told reporters. “It’s been 50-plus years [since the last time the country qualified for the World Cup, under the name Zaire]. It’s, in fact, as long as I’ve lived. … There’s only 10 African countries that are playing this time around, and we’re hoping that the others that were not able to come this far, we’re able to represent in them equally.”

That sentiment — that Congo’s team represents more than just themselves — was a sentiment that extended for fans in attendance.

“They represent all of us, regardless of where we’re from, regardless of where we grew up, regardless of our status,” said Tshiunza Kalubi, a Congolese Houstonian. “They represent the entire country of Congo, all the tribes, all the languages. Our hope is on them.”

FIFA Fan Festival kicks off in EaDo

Houston’s first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is not until Sunday afternoon, but you would not know it to walk around East Downtown on Thursday.

Michael Adkison/Houston Public Media

The FIFA Fan Festival kicked off in conjunction with the opening match of the tournament Thursday afternoon, between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, and thousands of Houstonians turned out to the free festival. Roughly an hour after opening its doors, the festival reached its 7,500-person capacity.

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The vast majority of them sported Mexico’s green jersey. David Valdez, a Houstonian, had stood in line for more than an hour before the festival opened its doors.

“The World Cup only comes around once every four years,” he said. “And then to top it off, we have a game here in Houston. So, this may never come around for maybe 40 years. So we have an excellent chance to bring the kids and for them to enjoy the World Cup.”

Michael Adkison/Houston Public Media

The sun shined down on many of the people in line for the Fan Festival, where the heat and humidity were front and center. Two people at the festival were hospitalized with heatstroke and nearly 20 others were treated for heat stress, according to the Houston Chronicle, which cited the Houston Fire Department.

The fire department did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation by Houston Public Media.

“You can spell it: h-o-t,” Valdez said. “But you know what? It’s Houston hot. And if you’re not from here, you’re not used to it. But hey man, we’re warriors. We’re ready to go.”

Waiting in line nearby, Norma Jacobi had found a sliver of shade in the shadow of a telephone pole.

Michael Adkison/Houston Public Media

“Hopefully they open the doors because we are frying,” she said, after having stood in line for an hour-and-a-half.

A Mexican Houstonian, Jacobi said she was cheering for “Mexico, of course.”

“Everybody’s sweating, but we don’t care,” she told Houston Public Media. “We’re here, we want to have fun. It’s the big party, big fiesta. So I know it’s hot, but I’m happy.”

Inside the festival, fans cheered as Mexico made its tournament debut with a 2-0 win over South Africa. Many sported Mexican flags — which are permitted at the fan festival. Others, like Felipe Hernandez, went even further.

Michael Adkison/Houston Public Media

Sporting a luchador mask, Hernandez called the experience of fan festival, and the World Cup in North America, “like watching Mexico in reality.”

The mask, though, does get hot.

“It’s just a matter of getting some air flow here,” he said. “And probably stay away from people so we can be comfortable.”