DR Congo vaults from despair to World Cup delirium — ‘We write our story with a black pen’

ATLANTA — As omens go, this wasn’t a great one: just hours before the matchup that would decide their World Cup fate, DR Congo supporters learned that their most visible (and motionless) fan, Lumumba Vea, would not be in attendance for Saturday night’s match against Uzbekistan. Lumumba (real name: Michel Kuka Mboladinga) did not get a visa approved to enter the United States, and that meant Congo would have to make do with a well-meaning knockoff: Iconic DR Congo fan Lumumba Vea is not in attendance for DR Congo-Uzbekistan after being denied a visa into the U.S.

pic.twitter.com/MVfXqutvrl— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 27, 2026And for the first hour-plus of Saturday night’s match, Lumumba’s absence hung like a pall over Congo’s best efforts.

Congo have not played in the World Cup since 1974, back when the nation was still known as Zaire. In that lone appearance, the first by any sub-Saharan Africa nation, Congo lost all three matches by a combined score of 14-0. So the fact that Congo managed a 1-1 draw against Portugal in its opening match in this year’s World Cup was nothing short of a sporting miracle.

A 1-0 loss to Colombia put its dreams of advancing out of the group stage on the ropes. “Nothing is easy in football, in life,” forward Yoane Wissa said afterward, thinking back on Congo’s path to Atlanta. “And when the time like this comes, you have to enjoy it.

You have to enjoy it because it's not easy, you know.”DR Congo’s Yoane Wissa (20) celebrates a goal en route to helping his team secure a historic place in the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Molly Darlington via Getty ImagesEven before Saturday’s match began, Congo was playing with the weight of a nation on its shoulders.

Hours before the match Congo president Félix Tshisekedi urged the team to victory, and urged the nation to back Les Léopards:"This Saturday, June 27, ​2026, in Atlanta, you will not be alone. Behind you, there will ‌be ⁠more than 100 million Congolese people—our families, our