The Democratic Republic of Congo has no plans to change their preparations for the 2026 World Cup despite a warning from the United States that the team must isolate for 21 days before arriving in the country, a team official said on Saturday.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House World Cup Task Force, confirmed this ESPN On Friday, the Congolese delegation said it had to maintain a bubble in which they trained in Belgium and isolated for 21 days or risk being denied entry following a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Central African country.
The Congolese team will be based in Houston during the tournament and will play an opening Group K match against Portugal on June 17, followed by matches against Colombia on June 23 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and against Uzbekistan on June 27 in Atlanta.
“We have been very clear with Congo that they must maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can come to Houston on June 11,” Giuliani said. ESPN.
«We have also made it very clear to the Congolese government that they must maintain that bubble, otherwise they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We could not be clearer.»
But a team spokesman said there was no change at this stage to their schedule, which includes a friendly against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3, and another friendly against Chile in Cadiz, Spain, six days later.
«We have maintained our training programme. Not a single player in the squad is from DR Congo,» the official said.
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The entire squad of players is based outside DR Congo, mainly in Europe, including coach Sebastien Desabre. A few team officials arrived at the training camp in Belgium from the DRC earlier this week.
The team had planned a three-day trip to Kinshasa next week as a celebratory farewell before heading to their first World Cup in 52 years, but that trip has been cancelled.
The World Health Organization on Friday raised the risk of the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola turning into a national outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to «very high» and declared the outbreak there and in neighboring Uganda an emergency of international concern.
Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded following the outbreak in the DRC.
Published on May 23, 2026
