Portugal Stunned by DR Congo in World Cup Opener
HOUSTON – This was supposed to be routine. A soft landing for a heavyweight with ambitions of lifting the trophy. Instead, Portugal walked off under the Texan sun looking rattled, their 41-year-old icon staring at the turf while Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated a point 52 years in the making.
Dream start, dead end
The script initially followed the rankings. Six minutes in, Portugal sliced through with the ease of a side tipped to go deep into the tournament. Pedro Neto found space wide, measured his cross, and Joao Neves – ghosting into the box from midfield – buried a header from around 15 metres. One chance, one goal, a clean, clinical finish.
It should have been the platform for a comfortable afternoon. It turned out to be their only shot on target.
From that moment, the European giants kept the ball but lost the edge. Possession without penetration. Roberto Martinez later admitted his players felt the weight of expectation, of a group already talking about winning the World Cup before they had truly dealt with DR Congo.
“We didn't create enough chances and probably we lost that intention of scoring the second goal,” the Portugal coach said, pointing to a mentality burdened by the bigger prize. The ball moved, but not with purpose. It drifted sideways, giving DR Congo time to breathe, to adjust, to believe.
Congo grow, history arrives
DR Congo arrived on this stage for the first time since 1974. Nervous, deep, cautious at the start, they spent the early exchanges pinned back, content to sit in and absorb. But they didn’t crack. With every Portuguese pass that went nowhere, the African side grew taller.
In the stands, President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo watched his players find their feet. On the pitch, Yoane Wissa and his teammates began to press with more conviction, to carry the ball with more confidence. The counters sharpened. The duels became more even.
Then, deep into first-half stoppage time, history finally broke Portugal’s rhythm.
Arthur Masuaku swung in a wicked cross from the left. Neves, so decisive at the other end earlier, was now one of several Portuguese bodies caught ball-watching. Wissa, unmarked, attacked the delivery and powered his header past a stranded defence. DR Congo’s first-ever World Cup goal. A roar that sounded like five decades of waiting.
“It is a step forward for us to have scored this first goal and to have this first point for our country during this World Cup,” coach Sebastien Desabre said. “We gave everything we had against the team of Portugal. We are delighted.”
Portugal, suddenly, were not.
A flat giant, a restless legend
The first half had often looked like a training exercise: Portugal’s formidable midfield rotating the ball, DR Congo in two tight banks, little tempo, little incision. The context made it even more emotionally charged. Portugal were playing in front of the parents of former teammate Diogo Jota, killed in a car crash with his brother in 2025. There was a sense of occasion. The performance did not match it.
Martinez reacted at the break. Bernardo Silva stayed inside, sacrificed for fresh legs and a change of spark. Ronaldo stayed on. Of course he did. The national team’s all-time leading scorer, now the oldest player ever to start a World Cup match, was chasing another record – a goal at a sixth World Cup, something only Lionel Messi can currently match.
Portugal did step up the urgency after the restart. The ball moved quicker, the runs were sharper, the pressure heavier. But the cutting edge remained blunt.
Ronaldo had his moments, two close-range efforts that he would once have buried without a second thought, both dragged wide. Half-chances, snatched at. Around him, DR Congo’s defenders kept shrinking the space, defending the box with a collective stubbornness that bordered on defiance. They did not allow him the pockets he craves, the little windows where he so often decides games.
For long spells, the veteran forward was reduced to a peripheral figure, gesturing, dropping deep, looking for involvement. The service never truly arrived.
Congo threaten the upset
The longer Portugal laboured, the more DR Congo sensed something bigger than a point. Their counters became more dangerous, their transitions quicker. One move nearly turned the night on its head.
Cedric Bakambu found room and let fly, his effort crashing against the post with Diogo Costa beaten. A few centimetres lower and Portugal’s World Cup campaign would have started with a full-blown crisis, not just a warning.
The scare did not wake Portugal into a frenzy. There was pressure, yes. Territory, yes. But not the relentless siege expected from one of the tournament favourites chasing a late winner against debutants. The Congolese back line stayed organised, their midfielders ran themselves into the ground, and every clearance was cheered as if it were a goal.
When the final whistle came, DR Congo’s players dropped to their knees and then rose with smiles. Portugal’s shoulders slumped.
Questions for Portugal, belief for Congo
For Martinez, the numbers and the narrative cut the same way: too much control, not enough damage. A side that talks openly of going all the way has now gone three World Cups without getting past the quarter-finals, the last exit coming against Morocco in 2022. The old doubts about ruthlessness and imagination in the final third resurfaced instantly.
Now the schedule tightens. Uzbekistan and Colombia await in Group K, and Portugal suddenly have no margin for complacency. They still carry the talent, the experience, the aura. But they also carry the responsibility of delivering the one major trophy that continues to elude Cristiano Ronaldo.
DR Congo, by contrast, leave Houston with something priceless: proof. Proof that they belong, that their first point and first goal at a World Cup are not the end of the story but the opening chapter.
Portugal wanted a statement win. Instead, they walked into a statement from an opponent that has waited half a century to be heard.
