Portugal Held to Draw by DR Congo in World Cup Opener
HOUSTON – The script was written for Cristiano Ronaldo. A sixth World Cup, a record-breaking start, a gentle opening fixture to settle Portugal’s nerves and ignite another tilt at the one trophy that still eludes him.
DR Congo tore that script up.
Fifty-two years after their last appearance on this stage, the African side absorbed wave after wave of Portuguese possession, refused to be overawed by the occasion or the name on the back of the number 7 shirt, and walked away with a 1-1 draw that felt like a statement.
Dream start, flat response
For six minutes, Portugal looked every inch the pre-tournament heavyweight.
Pedro Neto darted down the left and picked his moment. His cross hung invitingly, and Joao Neves – timing his run perfectly – rose to meet it, steering a header in from around 15 metres. One-nil. Early control. Exactly what a contender wants.
It turned out to be their only shot on target.
From there, the game slipped into a rhythm that suited DR Congo far more than it did Roberto Martinez. Portugal kept the ball, recycling it through their technically gifted midfield, but too often in zones where the Congolese could shuffle, reset, and breathe. The tempo dropped. The urgency drained away.
Martinez did not hide from it.
"We didn't create enough chances and probably we lost that intention of scoring the second goal," he admitted afterwards, pointing to the psychological weight on his players. The pressure of trying to win the World Cup was visible in the sterile control, in the reluctance to risk more bodies ahead of the ball.
Congo grow, history arrives in stoppage time
While Portugal stroked it around, DR Congo waited. They sat in, picked their moments, and gradually began to believe.
Backed by a passionate travelling support and with President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo watching from the stands, Sebastien Desabre’s side grew bolder. Each interception, each successful counter, chipped away at the aura of their opponents.
The reward came deep into first-half stoppage time.
Arthur Masuaku swung in a wicked cross from the left. Yoane Wissa ghosted into space, completely unmarked, and met it with a firm header. The ball flew past the keeper and into the net – DR Congo’s first-ever World Cup goal, half a century in the making.
"It is a step forward for us to have scored this first goal and to have this first point for our country during this World Cup," Desabre said. "We gave everything we had against the team of Portugal. We are delighted."
The equaliser changed the mood. Portugal trudged off to the break with their early advantage gone and their performance looking more like a glorified training session than the opening statement of a serious contender.
Ronaldo’s record, but little joy
There was emotion layered into the occasion for Portugal long before kick-off. They played in front of the parents of former teammate Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash along with his brother in 2025. It was a sombre reminder of time passing, of careers and lives cut short, on a night when Ronaldo himself set another age-related record.
At 41, he became the oldest player ever to start a World Cup match, extending a career that has stretched across six tournaments, a feat he now shares with Lionel Messi.
The stage seemed set for another Ronaldo moment. It never came.
Martinez hooked Bernardo Silva at half-time to inject more thrust, but kept his captain on, hoping for that familiar flash of decisiveness. Instead, Ronaldo was largely starved of service. DR Congo’s defenders marked him tightly, shut off the spaces he loves to attack, and forced him into snatched half-chances.
He did get looks at goal – twice shooting wide from close range in the second half – but the finishing touch that has defined his career deserted him. For long spells he drifted on the fringes, reduced to brief involvements rather than dictating the occasion.
Congo threaten the upset
If one side looked like stealing it late on, it was not the one in red.
Cedric Bakambu came within inches of delivering a famous victory when he crashed a shot against the post, a warning that DR Congo were not content simply to cling on. Each counterattack carried menace, each Portuguese turnover drew a collective intake of breath from their supporters.
Portugal’s response never quite matched the situation. Possession remained high, but penetration did not. The angles were predictable, the final ball lacking. For all their names and experience, they rarely dragged DR Congo out of shape.
The whistle confirmed a point apiece, but the emotional balance was clear: DR Congo celebrated a milestone; Portugal walked away with a problem.
Pressure building in Group K
This was supposed to be the gentle start before the tests to come. Instead, Portugal now face Uzbekistan and Colombia with little margin for error if they want to control their route through Group K.
They have been here before. In 2022, another African side – Morocco – sent them home in the quarter-finals. Their best World Cup finish, third place in 1966, remains a distant memory.
The mission is straightforward but unforgiving: sharpen the attack, lighten the mental load, and find a way to turn sterile dominance into something more ruthless. Only then can they realistically talk about delivering Ronaldo the one major piece of silverware missing from his glittering collection.
Debutants Uzbekistan meet Colombia later in Mexico City. Portugal will watch that match knowing one thing: if this really is Ronaldo’s last World Cup, they cannot afford many more nights like Houston.
