Hit by ebola, conflict & curbs, DR Congo’s WC show unites, gives hope to embattled nation

“We need to be here for team and country,” Nyembue Kabeya Baudouin, 33, a teacher in Kinshasa, told TOI over phone on Wednesday. “This is the least we can do for our embattled nation at this difficult moment.”Democratic Republic of the Congo’s return to FIFA World Cup after 52 years — its first appearance since playing as Zaire in 1974 — has become a rare shared moment for a country living through an Ebola outbreak, travel restrictions and years of conflict. But fans across — in rebel-hit eastern provinces and Ebola-affected areas are rallying behind the Leopards (as the team is popularly known).The team itself began their campaign by drawing 1-1 with Portugal, with Yoane Wissa scoring the country’s first World Cup goal, before losing 1-0 to Colombia on Tuesday, a result that left them needing victory against Uzbekistan to keep their knockout hopes alive.

For many supporters, the Portugal draw was not only a scoreline but also proof that a team absent from the tournament for half a century could return without being reduced to memory or sentiment.“Now, we are living those very stories,” Baudouin said, recalling how his parents spoke of the 1974 team. “Their stories used to excite us when we imagined the fanfare in the country in 1974, when we became the first country from Sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the greatest sporting event on earth.

Now that we have watched our team play in the 2026 World Cup, we have stories to narrate to our future generations.”Baudouin said the tournament had briefly narrowed divisions within a country where parts of the east have been affected by the M23 rebellion and where the Ebola outbreak has brought restrictions, fear and movement curbs. “Before the World Cup, people in some parts of the country were divided because of the rebellion in North Kivu and South Kivu.

But the World Cup has united every citizen in support of the national team.

”The opening draw against Portugal changed the mood around the team, especially because Wissa, an acid-attack survivor, scored the goal that entered Congolese football history. Professor Mabunsu Ngwaka Hubert, 63, of Kinshasa, told TOI the result had given supporters a belief that seemed unlikely before the tournament.Off the pitch, the team’s best-known supporter and mascot, Michel “Lumumba Vea” Mboladinga, reached Mexico only after missing the opener because of a 21-day Ebola quarantine.

Known for posing as Patrice Lumumba, the country’s first prime minister, Mboladinga remains silent and motionless through the full 90 minutes and trains for this by practising stillness for around 40 minutes. “The deliberate immobility serves as a spiritual reminder of my country’s history and sacrifices.

It gives players emotional stamina and strength on the pitch,” Mboladinga said.Travel restrictions have shaped how Congolese fans experience the tournament.

Baudouin said many supporters wanted to travel to the host countries but could not because of quarantine rules, entry restrictions and visa issues. “Many wanted to go and support the team, but their visas were not approved.”The defeat to Colombia did not end the sense of participation. Andre Mbuyi Kalonji told TOI that supporters saw the loss as part of the game rather than a collapse of hope. “That is how the game is. Our spirits are not dampened because our team playing in the World Cup despite the suffering of people here has been a comforting moment,” he said.