{"id":5445,"date":"2026-06-28T06:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T06:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5445"},"modified":"2026-06-28T06:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T06:05:20","slug":"congo-rallies-to-a-3-1-win-against-uzbekistan-to-seal-place-in-the-world-cup-knockouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5445","title":{"rendered":"Congo rallies to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in the World Cup knockouts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Congo\u2019s Cedric Bakambu (17), Yoane Wissa (20) and Gedeon Kalulu (24) celebrate a win during the World Cup Group K soccer match between DR Congo and Uzbekistan in Atlanta, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Erik S. Lesser)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

ATLANTA \u2014 For 52 years, Congo\u2019s standout World Cup<\/a> memory was a humiliating 9-0 rout at the hands of Yugoslavia in its only other appearance on soccer\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>

Read more Foster Griffin helps restore order as Nats beat Orioles to snap four-game skid<\/a><\/p>\n

Not anymore. Not after a new generation of players made history by advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time and set up a clash with England.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe weight on our shoulders was hard to bear,\u201d said striker Yoane Wissa, whose two goals helped Congo rally to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan on Saturday night<\/p>\n

Fiston Mayele was also on target in a dramatic second-half comeback as Congo joined Cape Verde<\/a> as another unexpected qualifier for the round of 32<\/a> .<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told ourselves we can\u2019t give up,\u201d Mayele said.<\/p>\n

Congo has been one of the surprise stories of this World Cup, with few expecting it to emerge from a group that included Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Portugal and Colombia. And history was hardly on its side.<\/p>\n

Congo\u2019s previous appearance was when it competed as Zaire in 1974 and lost all three games, including the rout by Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a completely different story now.<\/p>\n

After holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw earlier in the tournament, Congo needed a win in its final Group K game to advance as one of the best third-place teams.<\/p>\n

It did just that with a breathless fight back after trailing to Eldor Shomurodov\u2019s lobbed goal in the 10th minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a team that knows how to respond when we concede a goal; we keep fighting with determination,\u201d coach S\u00e9bastien Desabre said.<\/p>\n

If the weight of the occasion was evident in Congo\u2019s first-half performance, the resilience of its players proved irresistible after the break.<\/p>

Read more Guzman, Peraza and O\u2019Hoppe deliver late in Angels\u2019 5-2 win over Athletics<\/a><\/p>\n

The game was level in the 68th when Wissa was brought down by Abdukodir Khusanov for a penalty.<\/p>\n

Wissa picked himself up and sent Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov the wrong way, rolling the ball into the bottom corner for the first of a late flurry of goals.<\/p>\n

Mayele put Congo ahead 10 minutes later when flicking past Nematov at the near post and was mobbed by teammates and even substitutes, who raced off the bench and across the field to join in the wild celebrations.<\/p>\n

There were even more joyous scenes when Wissa put the result beyond doubt in added time with a curling shot into the bottom corner.<\/p>\n

Fans continued celebrating long after the final whistle, singing and dancing in the stadium concourses. The memories of 1974 fading fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to savor this moment because it\u2019s been tough,\u201d said Wissa. \u201cAll the guys \u2014 the substitutes, those who\u2019ve worn the jersey before, and those who\u2019ll wear it tomorrow \u2014 we should be proud. Thank you to all the Congolese people; it\u2019s for moments like these that we do what we do. We did it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Congo is one of nine African nations<\/a> to advance from the group stage at this tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite an achievement. We showed a good image of Congo,\u201d said Desabre.<\/p>\n

Uzbekistan\u2019s debut at the World Cup ended in three straight defeats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this tournament will give us big experience. I hope this experience will give us more motivation for the future,\u201d said coach Fabio Cannavaro.<\/p>

Read more Austria, Algeria trade goals in stoppage time, both advance at World Cup with stunning 3-3 draw<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congo has advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time by rallying to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCongo rallies to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in the World Cup knockouts - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5445\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congo rallies to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in the World Cup knockouts - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Congo has advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time by rallying to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5445\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-28T06:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8843ae031f3df8927cb2b35b4ed7d515-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Congo rallies to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in the World Cup knockouts\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T06:05:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445\"},\"wordCount\":646,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fdfa9f4de02dad8b77e6416307e7e72b-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445\",\"name\":\"Congo rallies to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in the World Cup knockouts - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fdfa9f4de02dad8b77e6416307e7e72b-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T06:05:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5445#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fdfa9f4de02dad8b77e6416307e7e72b-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fdfa9f4de02dad8b77e6416307e7e72b-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Congo's Cedric Bakambu (17), Yoane Wissa (20) and Gedeon Kalulu (24) celebrate a win during the World Cup Group K soccer match between DR Congo and Uzbekistan in Atlanta, Saturday, June 27, 2026. 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