We are looking forward to the opening match of Group K on Wednesday in 2026 Football World Cup With a preview of Portugal vs. Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ten years after their success at Euro 2016, can the Portuguese get off to the perfect start?
Portugal vs Democratic Republic of the Congo: Main Ideas
- Supercomputer Opta puts Portugal as favorites to win the 2026 World Cup. They beat the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 54.5% of pre-match simulations.
- Portugal has won just one of its last four World Cup openers, beating Ghana 3-2 in 2022. In its last three tournament openers, Portugal has produced an average of five goals per game.
- This is only the DR Congo’s second participation in a World Cup finals, and their first since 1974 when they competed under the name Zaire. Only Wales (64 years), Egypt and Norway (both 56 years) have longer gaps than the Leopards’ 52 years between tournaments.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal They finally entered the field of play in the 2026 World Cup, opening the tournament at Houston Stadium in Texas against the A.J Democratic Republic of the Congo The team whose return to football’s biggest stages took 52 years.
One of only five European countries to have participated in every World Cup since 2002 alongside England, France, Germany and Spain, Portugal has qualified for the knockout stages in four of the last five editions.
Roberto Martinez’s side booked their place in style, topping the group that included the Republic of Ireland, Hungary and Armenia by scoring 20 goals in their six matches. Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves They both scored hat-tricks in the 9-1 win over the latter.
Ronaldo finished the qualifiers as Portugal’s top scorer and his five goals were the most in UEFA Group F; At present, the 41-year-old is the only player to have scored in five World Cups.
Al-Nasr striker is set to become The second oldest player on the field – after Roger Milla (42) – is playing in a World CupHe is in a race with Lionel Messi to become the first player ever to appear in six editions of the tournament.
With Argentina playing the opening match the day before, Ronaldo looks likely to lose that particular battle, but he will lead a Portugal side who have scored in 10 of their last 11 World Cup matches.
The only exception came in the 1-0 defeat to Morocco that knocked them out of the quarter-finals in 2022, but in Martinez, Portugal have a coach with an exceptional record at this level.
Martinez has captained Belgium and Portugal, winning seven of his 10 World Cup matches – of head coaches with more than 10 appearances in the tournament, only Telé Santana (80%), Didier Deschamps (74%), and Joachim Loew (71%) have a better win rate than Martinez’s 70%.
But in terms of progress, history is not on Portugal’s side. Their best ever World Cup finish was third place in the 1966 edition in England – 60 years ago – and they have only reached the semi-finals once since, in 2006.
Portugal are unbeaten so far in 2026, with Portugal beating the USA, Chile and Nigeria in their last three friendlies, and after each net in a 2-1 win over the latter, the Wings won Pedro Neto and Francisco Conceicao He will be confident to accompany Ronaldo in Martinez’s attacking line.
While ever-present Portugal in the 21st century look to achieve their best ever result at a World Cup Finals, their opponents are making their first appearance since 1974, competing for the first time under the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after changing the team’s name from Zaire in 1997.
One of the last nations to qualify for the World Cup after a 1-0 win over Jamaica in the continental qualifiers, Leopards’ 52-year absence from the tournament ended 1-0. Axel TuanzebeWinner in the 100th minute.
DR Congo finished behind Gabon in the second round of CAF qualifiers, but then progressed through Cameroon and then Nigeria to reach the decisive final against Jamaica in Guadalajara.
During the CAF qualifiers, DRC had two players score more than 6 goals Cedric Bakambu (four goals and two assists) and Yuan warned (three goals, three assists); With no qualified African country managing more.
The two strikers will back up the DR Congo’s first-ever goalscoring run at a World Cup finals, but their matches could be cagey, with 10 of the Leopards’ 13 qualifiers decided by one goal or less (six wins, two draws, two defeats).
Portugal vs Democratic Republic of the Congo
As Portugal is a regular participant in the tournament and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has not appeared on this stage in 52 years, the two countries have never met before in any competitive or friendly matches.
Portugal will become the fourth UEFA nation to face the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which lost to both Scotland and Yugoslavia in the 1974 World Cup (losing 9-0 to the latter), and drew 0-0 with Denmark in a pre-tournament friendly last month.
Portugal’s only two World Cup defeats to African teams came against Morocco, in the group stage in 1986 and in the quarter-finals in 2022. However, they have not lost to teams from sub-Saharan Africa, with three wins and one draw.
Predict the match between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) ranking for the Democratic Republic of the Congo jumped from 56th to 45th after qualifying for this tournament, but The eighth supercomputer He still believes that Portugal, ranked fifth, is the closest to winning this match.
Across 25,000 pre-match simulations, Portugal managed to beat the Democratic Republic of the Congo a whopping 54.5% of the results, with a 22.3% chance of their opening Group K match ending in a draw.
The Leopards have a 23.2% chance of winning, but Sébastien Desabre’s side certainly couldn’t have asked for a much tougher test on their return to the World Cup.
Portugal’s lineup against the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Jose Sa, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Ruben Dias, Tomas Araujo, Diogo Dalot, Renato Vega, Gonzalo Inacio, Joao Cancelo, Nuno Mendes, Mateus Nunes, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Neves, Ruben Neves, Vitinha, Samo Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo. Ramos, Joao Felix, Trincao, Rafael Leao, Pedro Neto, Goncalo Guedes, Francisco Conceição.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Lionel Mbasi, Timothy Fayulu, Matthew Ebolo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Steve Kabwade, Axel Tuanzebe, Dylan Batubinska, Joris Kayembe, Chancel Mbemba, Gideon Kalulu, Arthur Masuaku, Samuel Motsami, Theo Bongonda, Gayle Kakuta, Noah Sadiqi, Aaron Tshibola, Charles Bickel, Edo Kayembe. Nathaniel Mpoko, Brian Sibenga, Meshack Elia, Cedric Bakambu, Fiston Wisdom, John Wesa, and Simon Panza.
The expected lineup for the match between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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