---
title: "DR Congo come from behind to reach the World Cup last 32 — and a tie with England"
description: "A Yoane Wissa double and a Fiston Mayele strike turned a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, sending the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time — and setting up a round-of-32 meeting with England."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports
author: "Jasmine Howard"
published: 2026-06-28T03:08:00.000Z
updated: 2026-06-28T03:08:00.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/dr-congo-world-cup-last-32-england
tags: ["world-cup-2026", "dr-congo", "uzbekistan", "england", "yoane-wissa", "football"]
---
# DR Congo come from behind to reach the World Cup last 32 — and a tie with England

A Yoane Wissa double and a Fiston Mayele strike turned a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, sending the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time — and setting up a round-of-32 meeting with England.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time, coming from a goal down to beat Uzbekistan 3-1 in Atlanta and book a round-of-32 tie against England.

## A comeback in Atlanta

Uzbekistan, already eliminated, took a 10th-minute lead through Eldor Shomurodov, and for an hour DR Congo's dominance of the ball brought no reward, [ESPN reported](https://www.espn.com/soccer/report/_/gameId/760482). The turning point came in the 68th minute, when Yoane Wissa was fouled in the box and converted the penalty himself. Ten minutes later Fiston Mayele put the Leopards ahead, and Wissa sealed it in stoppage time with a low curling finish for 3-1, [confirmed by FIFA's match centre](https://www.fifa.com/en/match-centre/match/17/285023/289273/400021500).

## Half a century in the making

The result carries real historical weight. DR Congo's only previous World Cup appearance came in 1974, when the country competed as Zaire — and they had never before reached the knockout rounds. Their place in the last 32 was made possible by the expanded 48-team format, which allows the best third-placed teams to advance; they finished third in their group behind Colombia and Portugal, having earned a creditable draw with Portugal along the way.

## England next

DR Congo now meet England in the round of 32, [scheduled for July 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49202639/england-face-democratic-republic-congo-world-cup-round-32). England topped their group and are rated among the tournament's stronger sides, a stark contrast in pedigree with a DR Congo team appearing in the knockout stage for the very first time. But after the way the Leopards turned their final group game around, few will be quick to dismiss them.