DR Congo turned the final round into a historic evening in Atlanta with a comeback against Uzbekistan
DR Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3:1 on Saturday, June 27, 2026, in Atlanta in the third round of Group K at the 2026 World Cup, turning one seemingly lost match into the most important victory in its national-team history. The match began at 19:30 Eastern Time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is listed in the official FIFA schedule for the tournament as Atlanta Stadium. Uzbekistan took an early lead through Eldor Shomurodov in the 10th minute, while DR Congo completed the turnaround only in the final third of the match. According to reports by AP and Outlook India, Yoane Wissa equalized from a penalty kick in the 68th minute, Fiston Mayele scored for 2:1 in the 78th minute, and Wissa confirmed the victory and progression in stoppage time.
The result carried far more weight than an ordinary group-stage victory. According to ESPN's match summary and the Group K standings, DR Congo finished the group stage with four points, behind Colombia and Portugal, while Uzbekistan remained without a point in its debut appearance at the World Cup. In the format with 48 national teams and a new round of 32, which FIFA is applying at this tournament, that record was enough for DR Congo to continue the competition as one of the best-ranked third-placed teams. The 3:1 victory was therefore at the same time a comeback result, a historic step forward and confirmation that the expanded tournament format can open space for national teams that in earlier editions often remained on the margins of major finals.
Uzbekistan's early blow and the long search for an answer
The match began for DR Congo in the hardest possible way. According to Outlook India's chronology, Uzbekistan took advantage of a misunderstanding in the opponent's defence already in the 10th minute, and captain Eldor Shomurodov finished the move with a precise shot from a difficult angle. That goal was especially important for a team that had suffered defeats to Colombia and Portugal in its first two Group K matches, but in Atlanta at least briefly opened the possibility of ending its debut appearance at the World Cup with a positive result. Uzbekistan went into the break with the lead, and according to the same report, the advantage in the first half looked like a reward for a brave start to the match.
DR Congo, however, had already shown before the break that it did not intend to wait for the end without pressure. In the first half, a goal by Nathanaël Mbuku was ruled out after a referee review, which further emphasized how much the match was balanced on the edge between historic celebration and new disappointment. For a national team that returned to the World Cup after 52 years, following the appearance of then Zaire in 1974, every attack carried additional weight. FIFA's profile of the DR Congo national team recalls the long gap between two appearances at the finals, and that is precisely why the match in Atlanta had strong symbolism: the team was not playing only for qualification, but also to end decades of waiting.
Uzbekistan tried during the first hour to slow the rhythm and protect the lead, while DR Congo increasingly moved the game toward the opponent's half. According to available match reports, the key moment came in the 66th minute, when Wissa won a penalty kick. Two minutes later, the same player took responsibility and scored for 1:1. That goal did not only change the score; it also changed the emotional dynamic of the match: Uzbekistan went from being the team protecting a lead to the team that had to survive pressure, while DR Congo for the first time that evening had the feeling that the knockout stage could really be reached.
Wissa and Mayele marked the closing stages
After the equalizer, the closing stages belonged to DR Congo. According to AP, Fiston Mayele scored in the 78th minute, between Wissa's two goals, thereby confirming the African national team's complete turnaround. The goal for 2:1 was the moment in which the tactical picture of the match also changed: Uzbekistan had to open up space, while DR Congo gained the opportunity to play in transition and use the speed of its attackers. In that period, it was clearest why coach Sébastien Desabre included in the team a group of offensively strong and physically mobile players, among them Wissa, Mayele, Cédric Bakambu, Théo Bongonda and Meschack Elia.
The third goal came in stoppage time and removed all doubts. According to Outlook India, Elia kept the attack alive on the left side, and after receiving the ball and setting up his shot, Wissa sent it into the net for the final 3:1. That goal marked the end of Uzbekistan's hopes and the beginning of DR Congo's celebration, after the team had scored three goals in the final little more than twenty minutes. It is especially significant that Wissa, scorer of DR Congo's first goal at this tournament in the draw with Portugal, was again the central figure in the match that decided the national team's fate.
Wissa's performance also has broader narrative significance. After the match against Portugal, FIFA emphasized that his goal had given DR Congo its first goal and first point in the history of its World Cup appearances under that name. In Atlanta, he went one step further: two goals against Uzbekistan turned him into the face of the national team's most important victory on the world stage. Mayele's goal, meanwhile, gave the comeback a concrete structure because it broke the balance after the equalizer and forced Uzbekistan into a risk that opened space for the final blow.
Group K ended with a clear hierarchy, but also with a major story of the third-placed team
According to ESPN's standings after the match, Colombia finished Group K at the top with seven points, Portugal was second with five, DR Congo third with four, and Uzbekistan fourth without a point won. Such an order confirms how important DR Congo's draw with Portugal in the first round was for the final outcome. FIFA's schedule records that DR Congo drew 1:1 with Portugal on June 17 in Houston, then lost 0:1 to Colombia on June 23 in Guadalajara, and then ended the group in Atlanta with a victory against Uzbekistan. Each of those three results had a direct role in creating the scenario in which victory in the final round became enough for progression.
For Uzbekistan, the outcome was painful because the initial hope in Atlanta turned into a third defeat. FIFA's profile of Uzbekistan describes the 2026 appearance as the national team's first qualification for the World Cup, which means that its very presence in Group K was already a historic step. Still, the results side of the tournament proved extremely demanding. Uzbekistan opened the championship with a 1:3 defeat to Colombia, then lost 0:5 to Portugal, and after leading against DR Congo conceded three goals in the closing stages. Thus, the debut story ended without a point, but also with experience that will remain important for Uzbek football because of its first entry into the global elite.
DR Congo, on the other hand, showed the value of perseverance in a group in which it was not the favourite for direct progression. According to AP, the national team reached the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time, and the victory against Uzbekistan also marked its first victory at this tournament. In the broader African context, AP reported that at this edition of the competition more African national teams secured continuation in the tournament than ever before. In that picture, DR Congo is not an isolated sensation, but part of a much broader shift that marked the first World Cup with 48 participants.
Why the tournament format gave third place additional importance
The 2026 World Cup is the first edition with 48 national teams, 12 groups of four teams and a total of 104 matches. In its explanation of the format, FIFA states that the two best teams from each group and the eight best third-placed national teams progress to the round of 32. This means that the final group round does not decide only first and second place, but often also the fate of teams competing in a separate, inter-group table of third-placed sides. The match between DR Congo and Uzbekistan was exactly such an example: victory did not guarantee the top of the group, but it opened the door to the knockout stage.
Such a system increases the importance of goal difference, the number of goals scored and a team's ability in the closing stages not only to defend a minimal advantage, but also to improve its overall record. For DR Congo, the third goal was important both psychologically and in terms of the result because it made the victory more convincing and reduced the space for any uncertainty in the ranking of third-placed national teams. For Uzbekistan, conversely, the closing stages further deepened a negative goal difference that had already been burdened by the heavy defeat to Portugal. In that context, the final twenty or so minutes in Atlanta were not only a dramatic period of one match, but also a model example of how the new format punishes a drop in concentration.
FIFA's rules for ranking in the group and among tied teams emphasize first points, then relevant criteria such as goal difference, number of goals scored and, if necessary, disciplinary elements. Although DR Congo in this match did not depend only on theory, the 3:1 victory allowed the team to leave the group with a clear sporting argument. Four points, a positive final impression and a comeback against an opponent that took an early lead created the narrative of a team that did not enter the knockout stage by chance.
Atlanta as a major stage of the new format
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, officially Atlanta Stadium in FIFA's tournament terminology, is one of the important American stages of the 2026 World Cup. According to FIFA's data on the host city, Atlanta was awarded eight tournament matches, including one semifinal. The match between DR Congo and Uzbekistan was one of the Group K encounters and was played in the evening slot local time, in front of a crowd that witnessed one of the most dramatic finishes of the final round. In such circumstances, the stadium was not merely a neutral venue, but also a backdrop in which a national team from Central Africa recorded a moment that will be remembered for a long time.
FIFA's schedule for Atlanta shows that the city is hosting matches in several different phases of the competition, from the group stage to the closing stages themselves. This gives the DR Congo-Uzbekistan match additional context: it was played at a stadium that will appear again at key moments of the tournament, but already in the group stage it received one of its major stories. For the global audience, such matches often give the World Cup its breadth. They do not necessarily decide the title winner, but they shape the identity of the tournament because they show that history is not written only in the final, but also in matches of national teams seeking their first major step forward.
For DR Congo, Atlanta became the place where a long stretch of waiting ended. The national team arrived at the tournament with the burden of history, after not appearing on the world stage since 1974, when it competed under the name Zaire. According to AP, Wissa himself spoke after the match about the team's long road to this moment, while Mayele described the victory as historic for the country. Even without relying on big words, the facts are strong enough: first victory, first progression to the knockout stage and a closing phase in which the team showed resilience after an early deficit.
The next challenge brings a different kind of pressure
Progression to the round of 32 changes the expectations around DR Congo. A team that could build an underdog story in the group now enters a match with no right to repair. According to AP's report, DR Congo's next opponent will be England, which means that the historic qualification immediately brings a match against a national team with great tournament experience and a significantly different kind of public pressure. For Desabre's team, it is both a reward and a test: a reward for the historic comeback in Atlanta, but also a test of the ability to turn an emotional peak into competitive stability.
The match against Uzbekistan showed several elements on which DR Congo can build the rest of the tournament. The team withstood an early blow, did not fall apart after a disallowed goal, found energy in the final part of the match and received goals from attackers capable of taking responsibility at key moments. At the same time, the early mistakes and difficulties in the first half remain a warning. Against higher-quality opponents, especially in the knockout stage, an early deficit can be far more costly.
For Uzbekistan, the end of the tournament will not erase the fact that the national team reached the World Cup for the first time. According to FIFA's profile, that qualification was the result of a long process and several earlier unsuccessful attempts to reach the global finals. Still, the defeat in Atlanta showed how great the difference is between qualifying success and the ability to withstand pressure at the tournament itself against teams with more individual strength and experience in the closing stages of major matches. Uzbekistan had the lead in Atlanta, but it did not have control until the end.
DR Congo, by contrast, leaves Atlanta with a story that goes beyond one evening. The 3:1 victory over Uzbekistan remains recorded as the moment in which the national team turned around the match, the group and its own world history. In a tournament expanded to include more national teams and more football markets, precisely such an outcome is one of the clearest confirmations of the new format: the space opened by additional places can turn into real sporting drama, but only if a team uses it on the pitch. DR Congo did that in Atlanta at the hardest moment.
Sources:
- FIFA – official match centre for DR Congo - Uzbekistan, data on time, location and competition phase (link)
- FIFA – schedule, results and match structure of the 2026 World Cup (link)
- FIFA – explanation of the group format, progression to the round of 32 and ranking criteria (link)
- FIFA – data on Atlanta Stadium and Atlanta's role as a host city (link)
- FIFA – profile of the DR Congo national team and history of World Cup appearances (link)
- FIFA – profile of Uzbekistan and context of its debut appearance at the 2026 World Cup (link)
- Associated Press – report on DR Congo's victory, progression to the knockout stage and the broader African performance at the tournament (link)
- Outlook India – match chronology, scorers and description of the comeback in Atlanta (link)
- ESPN – match summary and final Group K standings (link)