DR Congo friendly to be played behind closed doors amid Ebola concerns

June 7, 2026 No Comments

DR Congo friendly to be played behind closed doorsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa (centre, front row) is one of five players in the DR Congo squad who play in EnglandByFlora SnelsonBBC Sport journalistPublished46 minutes agoDR Congo’s final World Cup warm-up game against Chile will take place behind closed doors amid concerns about the Ebola outbreak in the African nation.The match is scheduled to take place in the French city of Orleans on Tuesday (16:00 BST).It had been due to be played in Cadiz in Spain before a local mayor signed a decree preventing it from taking place there as a “precautionary measure”.

World Cup hosts the United States require squad and officials to spend 21 days outside DR Congo and symptom-free before they would be permitted to enter the country.

BBC Sport understands that none of DR Congo’s players – who all play for clubs outside of the country – have visited their homeland recently, but some support staff and fans have travelled from there.

The squad are finalising their preparations in Marbella in Spain after a 10-day training camp in Belgium which included a 0-0 draw with Denmark.

It is the first time DR Congo has qualified for the World Cup since 1974 when they competed as Zaire, finishing bottom of their group after defeats by Scotland, Brazil and Yugoslavia.

They plan to base themselves in Houston during the tournament and are scheduled to open their Group K campaign there against Portugal on 17 June.

They will then travel to the Mexican city of Guadalajara to face Colombia before returning to the United States to take on Uzbekistan in Atlanta.

The outbreak in eastern DR Congo has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo.

There is currently no vaccine for this species and the World Health Organisation has reported it could take up to nine months for a jab to be ready.