As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, DR Congo’s final pre-tournament warm-up fixture against Chile has undergone a last-minute reshuffle, shifting to a closed-door setup in the French city of Orleans following widespread public health concerns tied to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the central African nation. The match, set to kick off at 16:00 BST this Tuesday, was originally slated to be held in La Linea de la Concepcion, a Spanish border town. However, local authorities ultimately blocked the match from proceeding at that venue, with the mayor issuing an official decree framing the cancellation as a necessary precautionary measure to protect public health.
The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, has put in place strict entry requirements for all delegates coming from DR Congo: all squad members and team officials must complete a 21-day stay outside the country and remain completely free of Ebola symptoms before they are granted entry to the U.S. for the tournament. According to reporting from BBC Sport, none of DR Congo’s senior players – every one of whom currently plies their trade for club teams outside of DR Congo – have traveled back to their home country in recent weeks. However, a number of the national team’s non-playing support staff and traveling fan contingent have made the journey from DR Congo to join the squad ahead of the World Cup, which has triggered the ongoing public health precautions.
Currently, the DR Congo squad is wrapping up their final preparations at a training base in Marbella, Spain. This follows a 10-day pre-camp in Belgium, where the side earned a credible 0-0 draw in a friendly test against Denmark ahead of their first World Cup appearance in half a century. This tournament marks a historic milestone for DR Congo: it is the first time the nation has qualified for the World Cup since 1974, when it competed under the former name Zaire and finished at the bottom of its group after three opening-round losses to Scotland, Brazil and Yugoslavia.
For the 2026 tournament, DR Congo has based its pre-tournament operations in Houston, Texas, where it will kick off its Group K campaign against Portugal on June 17. After the opening match, the team will travel to Guadalajara, Mexico, for their second group-stage fixture against Colombia, before returning to U.S. soil to play their final group game against Uzbekistan in Atlanta.
The Ebola outbreak that has sparked these precautions is centered in eastern DR Congo, and is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus. As of the latest public health updates, no licensed vaccine currently exists for this specific Ebola variant, and the World Health Organization has confirmed that it could take as long as nine months to develop and approve an effective vaccine for public use.