Why Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s return to form with DR Congo is welcome news for West Ham

Aaron Wan-Bissaka once attributed his development as a right-back to daily match-ups against Marcus Rashford in Manchester United training. So it was fitting to see him demonstrate his defensive prowess when they met again this week on the world stage.

During England’s 2-1 win against his DR Congo side in the round of 32 at the World Cup on Wednesday, Wan-Bissaka made a superb goal-line clearance to deny Rashford his second goal of the tournament. Not just that, the 28-year-old West Ham United defender made it a frustrating afternoon for his former Old Trafford team-mate before Harry Kane’s late goal double won the match: of all the outfield players who took part in the game in Atlanta, Wan-Bissaka made the most defensive contributions with 11.

It was Wan-Bissaka back to his very best, his performance a highlights reel of defensive stops and offensive threat. A cross from the right led to Yoane Wissa hitting the outside of the post. With Rashford not getting the better of Wan-Bissaka and his team a goal down with time running out, England head coach Thomas Tuchel replaced him in the 60th minute with Anthony Gordon.

“When I first joined and came up against him in training, he was doing things that I just really didn’t expect,” Wan-Bissaka told United’s official website about Rashford in April 2020. “I thought he’d go a certain way and he’d go the other way, or I thought he was about to do one thing and he did another, so he’s really tricky to play against. I enjoy that, though. It’s been really good for my own development to test myself against him and the other attackers we have at the club.”

Wan-Bissaka’s display against the country of his birth drew comparisons to his display for Manchester United against Paris Saint-Germain in an October 2020 Champions League match, where he impressed in a one-on-one battle against Kylian Mbappe.

Seeing Wan-Bissaka return to form will be welcomed back at West Ham, considering he fell below his usual standards last season.

As The Athletic has reported previously, there is uncertainty over his future at the east London club.

During a campaign that ended with West Ham being relegated from the Premier League for the first time since 2011, Wan-Bissaka struggled for consistency and also was unavailable for the FA Cup quarter-final loss to Leeds United in early April after missing his flight to London after helping DR Congo seal World Cup qualification during the March international break.

His play yesterday was more reminiscent of 2024-25, when he was voted West Ham’s player of the season. London-born Wan-Bissaka joined the previous summer from Manchester United for £15million with a point to prove, homesick after a five-year spell in the north of England and with an eagerness to get his career back on track.

Among his standout moments, a goal-line clearance against Brighton & Hove Albion showed heart and courage. He got a sore head for his trouble but that incident endeared him to the supporters. Many of them hoped for more such memorable moments but Wan-Bissaka rarely impressed in his second year at the club. He slipped into bad habits and lost his place in the team to Kyle Walker-Peters towards the latter stages of the campaign.

@westham Body on the line 💪 #westham #football #premierleague ♬ الصوت الأصلي – 𝘼𝙇𝙉𝙂𝙆 𝙈𝙐𝙎𝙄𝘾 – 𝑮𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑳 𝑱𝑮 🎶

But that was not the Wan-Bissaka who repelled Rashford’s attacking threat as England toiled at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

His performances at the World Cup will have pleased West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. The former Crystal Palace right-back has never played in the second-tier Championship but keeping him this summer would surely benefit the club’s push for instant promotion back to the top flight.

A season laced in disappointment has ended in a belated return to form, with Wan-Bissaka starting all four of DR Congo’s matches at the tournament.

He initially represented the central African country — for whom he is eligible through parents Elizabeth and Ambroise — at under-20s level in 2015. He later amassed five caps for England’s under-20 and under-21 sides. In August 2019, Wan-Bissaka received his first senior call-up for England’s European Championship qualifying campaign under Gareth Southgate. He was forced to withdraw because of a back injury, and was never in the squad again.

Four years later, Wan-Bissaka received an approach from DR Congo. He initially stalled on a decision but was named in their 26-man squad in May last year for friendlies against Mali and Madagascar. In September, he made his debut in a World Cup qualifier against South Sudan and is now up to 16 caps.

Gabriel Zakuani, the former Peterborough United defender who made 29 appearances for DR Congo in the previous decade, played an important role in convincing Wan-Bissaka to switch international allegiance.

“Wan-Bissaka and even (Burnley’s former England youth international centre-back Axel) Tuanzebe were all very difficult, because the players were 50-50 about it, and then I think the key was the parents,” Zakuani told BBC Sport in November. “You have to visit the parents. The parents would know me from being captain of DR Congo, so that makes the conversation a little bit easier. Then we just, as Africans are, you’re very friendly and you talk about other things. I went there speaking about (French-born then Brentford and now Newcastle United striker) Wissa joining and Wan-Bissaka joining, and we ended up half of the conversation was about politics and the president.

“It’s a very relaxed situation and, in the end, it’s the player’s decision. Once the parents feel that it’s a good environment for their son, I think it makes the conversation a lot easier when I get to the player. I was sure Wan-Bissaka after last season, because he got West Ham player of the year, would possibly be in an England squad, and the fact that he wasn’t, I think was the key.”

Zakuani’s conversation with Wan-Bissaka and his family proved a game-changer for the DR Congo national team.

Now Nuno will hope his revitalised form carries on into West Ham’s 2026-27 campaign.