{"id":5950,"date":"2026-07-01T20:12:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T20:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950"},"modified":"2026-07-01T20:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T20:12:29","slug":"congo-goalkeeper-lionel-mpasi-nearly-leads-his-team-to-a-shocking-upset-of-england-at-the-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950","title":{"rendered":"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) save the ball during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo\/Butch Dill)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

ATLANTA \u2014 Lionel Mpasi blocked shots<\/a> with his right hand, his left hand, even took one a bit below the belt.<\/p>

Read more NHL free agency opens with Stuart Skinner heading to Winnipeg as goalie carousel starts spinning<\/a><\/p>\n

At one point, England midfielder Jude Bellingham gave him a hug of respect with Mpasi sprawled on the World Cup<\/a> turf, the ball safely in his grasp.<\/p>\n

In the end, though, the Congo goalkeeper couldn\u2019t stop Harry Kane.<\/p>\n

The England striker scored two late goals, the winner in the 86th minute, to prevent the upstart team from Africa from pulling off one of the greatest shockers in World Cup history.<\/p>\n

England is moving on to the round of 16 after a 2-1 victory<\/a> Wednesday, while Mpasi will have to console himself with one of the great defensive performances in a tournament filled with stellar play from the keepers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI offered my body to science,\u201d he said through a translator, managing a wry smile. \u201cBut we knew Harry Kane is a super striker and that we had to center on him. Too bad that twice we paid a little less attention to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Congolese couldn\u2019t hold off one of the world\u2019s most dangerous goalscorers.<\/p>\n

Still, it didn\u2019t diminish what Mpasi and his teammates nearly pulled off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my job to help the team and make saves,\u201d Mpasi said in French. \u201cHappily, I was able to make some during the game. I would have loved to save the two that turned into goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already, this was a historic tournament for a country whose only other World Cup appearance came in 1974, when the nation was known as Zaire. That was a quick three-and-out, the squad failing to even score a goal in its defeats \u2014 the most embarrassing of them a 9-0 blowout by Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

There was nothing to be ashamed about at its second World Cup.<\/p>\n

Much of the credit should go to the 31-year-old Mpasi, who plays club soccer in his native France but represents the country of his parent\u2019s birth internationally, a nation best known in sports circles for Muhammad Ali\u2019s \u201cRumble in the Jungle\u201d upset of George Foreman in 1974.<\/p>

Read more Michael Bennet is not the only senator to lose a primary for governor<\/a><\/p>\n

While a round of 32 victory over England wouldn\u2019t have been as impactful as that landmark heavyweight bout, it showcased a country \u2014 and a keeper \u2014 eager to make their mark on the international scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just proud \u2014 proud of my country, proud of my team,\u201d Mpasi said. \u201cWe fight until the end of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

He finished with five saves<\/a> , the most painful of them coming near the end of the first half when he flung his body in front of a shot by Kane off a cross at the right post \u2014 appearing to take ball somewhere between, uhh, his waist and upper thigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made some incredible saves,\u201d Kane said. \u201cIt looked like it was going to be one of those days.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was reminiscent of Mpasi\u2019s performance in a group game against Colombia, when he blocked eight shots in a 1-0 setback to the South American powerhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been phenomenal for us all tournament, especially the game against Columbia. He very kept us in the game,\u201d Congo defender Axel Tuanzebe said. \u201cCredit to him, the work we puts in, and just the togetherness that we have as a group. We\u2019ve been together for a while now and the relationship is there and the communication is there. I just look forward to playing with him and having my back for many more games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mpasi, too, looks forward to using this tournament as a building block for Congo soccer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am filled with pride on how we represented Congo,\u201d he said. \u201cWe fought with all we had but unfortunately it didn\u2019t work out. Now, we will rest and then work hard to make sure we can do things like this again.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Former CIA director John Brennan sues over Justice Dept. investigation<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

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

Lionel Mpasi blocked shots with his right hand, his left hand, even took one a bit below the belt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCongo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup - 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=5950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lionel Mpasi blocked shots with his right hand, his left hand, even took one a bit below the belt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T20:12:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/18916e9eb755346c68596880897f0c1e-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T20:12:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950\"},\"wordCount\":731,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950\",\"name\":\"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T20:12:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5950#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Lionel Mpasi blocked shots with his right hand, his left hand, even took one a bit below the belt","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T20:12:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/18916e9eb755346c68596880897f0c1e-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup","datePublished":"2026-07-01T20:12:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950"},"wordCount":731,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950","name":"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-01T20:12:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a2ab17ae4646955eda871bfbf0c2568e-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5950#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi nearly leads his team to a shocking upset of England at the World Cup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}