World Cup Group K
Outsider creates sensation against Portugal
Updated June 17, 2026 – 9:05 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Portugal and superstar Ronaldo are struggling in their tournament opener against Congo. The outsider gives the title favorite a false start to the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo made a false start to the World Cup title mission with Portugal. At the start of the XXL finals, the 2016 European champions couldn’t get past a 1-1 (1-1) draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Houston – criticism of the weak Ronaldo is likely to grow.
Joao Neves (6th) gave the Portuguese the lead, who commemorated their late teammate Diogo Jota with special bracelets. Yoane Wissa (45th + 5) scored the Congolese deserved equalizer, who celebrated their first point and goal in their second World Cup participation. In Group K both teams will face Colombia and Uzbekistan.
That’s how the game went
Three days after the furious German start against Curacao (7:1), everything in the Texas astronaut city revolved around “CR7”. At 41 years and 132 days, the captain was in the starting line-up at the start of his sixth World Cup (record) despite ongoing discussions about his role – and thus became the fourth oldest player in World Cup history.
Just like the DFB team on Sunday, the Portuguese took the lead after six minutes. Neves from Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain headed a cross and then symbolically stretched both index fingers towards the sky. Jota’s parents cheered in the stands.
Otherwise, the Houston Stadium was almost completely colored in red; only a few fans of the DR Congo were able to cheer for only the second World Cup participation since 1974 (then still known as Zaire), despite the entry ban due to the Ebola outbreak. The “Léopards”, who had to prepare in advance in a 21-day isolation in Belgium instead of a training camp, had their first good opportunity through Wissa (11th), Nick Woltemade and Malik Thiaw’s Newcastle colleague.
After taking the lead on offense, the reigning Nations League winner remained far too harmless and didn’t get Ronaldo in the spotlight at all. And so the Central Africans equalized shortly before the half-time whistle, also with a header. Wissa and his teammates then danced exuberantly in front of the dugout.
Portugal’s national coach Roberto Martínez, who will retire after the World Cup, reacted at halftime. He brought in Francisco Conceicao for the weak Bernardo Silva, whose move to Real Madrid had been announced a few hours earlier. Portugal scored a little later, but Joao Cancelo was clearly offside before his overhead kick (55th).
On the other side, Cedric Bakambu failed to hit the post (57′). And Ronaldo? Had his first shot on goal in the 68th minute, but five minutes later he narrowly missed it again.