Ebola Fears Sideline DR Congo FIFA World Cup Team Before United States Trip

Last Updated:May 23, 2026, 15:35 IST

DR Congo FIFA World Cup team quarantined in Belgium over Ebola scare, US entry rules tighten as WHO raises outbreak risk ahead of Houston opener.

The Ebola scare in Congo has resulted in the DR Congo FIFA World Cup squad being quarantined for three weeks before entering the United States for the marquee tournament.

DR Congo are training in Belgium after their planned training camp in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, was called off.

Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the FIFA World Cup, said that the team needs to remain inside a secure ‘bubble’ in Belgium.

“We have been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th. We have made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble, or they risk not being able to travel to the United States," Giuliani said while speaking to ESPN.

“We want to make sure that there is nothing that is going to come in or near our borders here on this. We want to make sure that there is nothing that is going to come in or near our borders here on this," Giuliani added.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has barred non-American travellers from entering the nation if they have been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the past 21 days.

“If they end up coming and any of those people end up symptomatic, they are risking the entire team being able to come and compete in this World Cup," Giuliani said.

On Friday, the World Health Organisation raised the public health risk level from the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo from ‘high’ to ‘very high’.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the risk across the wider African region was ‘high’, while the global risk level remained ‘low’.

Congo will begin their campaign against Portugal on Sunday, June 17, at the NRG Stadium in Houston.

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