Every debut is fraught with dangers, and Portugal learned this well! In their first match for the 2026 World Cup (11th group), the Iberians were held to a 1-1 draw by the Democratic Republic of Congo, who returned to the World Cup after 52 years with a great success.

In just the 6th minute, Joao Neves headed Portugal ahead and everything seemed easy. However, Roberto Martinez’s team did not even come close to their high standards and in the second half (45+5′) they conceded an equalizer from a header by Wiesa.

Later in the match, the Africans came closest to scoring, with Bakambu’s shot in the 57th minute hitting the outside of the crossbar. Thus, the end of the match found the “Leopardalis” celebrating with their “Greek” roster, as Atromitos’ Mutousami played the entire 90 minutes, the protagonists were the former Olympiacos Bakambu and Mazuaku, while AEL’s Kakuta and Batuminsika remained on the bench.

Referee: Abu Al-Rahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Yellow cards: Bernardo Silva, Araujo, Semedo – Beba

The compositions of the teams:

PORTUGAL (Roberto Martinez): Costa, Cancelo, Arauzo, Veiga, Mendes (72′ Semedo), Neves, Vitinha (83′ Gonzalo Ramos), Silva, Fernandes, Neto (72′ Leao), Ronaldo

DR CONGO (Sebastian Decabre): Bashi, Mazouako (74′ Joris Kayebe), Kapouadi, Tuanzebe, Ebeba, Wan-Bissaka (85′ Kalulu), Edo Kayebe (74′ Pickel), Mukau (57′ Santiqi), Mutousami, Visa, Bakambu (85′ Banza)