The Democratic Republic of Congo conducted an open training session on June 12 in Houston before their opening World Cup match, drawing members of the local Congolese community and about 250 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, which serves 55,000 young people [1, 2]. The training took place under humid, moody conditions and was led by coach Sebastien Desabre, who said, "We are focussed on the first game against Portugal and doing well. All three games are important, but we are not looking past Portugal for now." [1]
The Congolese team had arrived in the United States the day before, June 11, one of the last World Cup teams to travel to the tournament [1, 2]. DR Congo is competing in Group K alongside Portugal, Colombia, and Uzbekistan. Their opening match against Portugal is scheduled for June 17 in Houston [1, 2]. This marks DR Congo’s first World Cup appearance since 1974, when they played under the name Zaire [1, 2].
The open training allowed the local Congolese population in Houston to gather in celebration, sharing photos and videos on social media. Christina Badibanga, a Houston resident, said, "This is a chance for the Congolese community in Houston to come together and celebrate the team. We want people to see and hear us, and we are all sharing pictures and videos on social media for the people back home (who could not travel to the tournament due to restrictions around the Ebola virus). We are excited to participate in the World Cup after so long and show the vibrancy of our culture. This is very important to us, to share it with the world." [1]
A planned friendly match against Chile was relocated from Spain to France because of concerns linked to an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, which had 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths as of June 12 [1, 2].
The team’s next major event is the Group K opener against Portugal on June 17 in Houston [1, 2].