DR Congo vs Uzbekistan: Result, Stats & Predictions (World Cup 2026)
DR Congo beat Uzbekistan 3-1 in Atlanta to reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time, with Yoane Wissa scoring twice.
27 June 2026
Result
DR Congo beat Uzbekistan 3-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to qualify for the round of 32, the first time in their history. Eldor Shomurodov put Uzbekistan ahead in the 10th minute, but the Leopards turned it around emphatically in the second half: Yoane Wissa converted a penalty on 68 minutes, Fiston Mayele made it 2-1 on 78, and Wissa added a third in stoppage time to seal a historic win.
What it means for Last Man Standing pools
DR Congo were an unlikely pick for most LMS pools — they were the underdog in this group throughout, and many players would have avoided them entirely. Anyone bold enough to use them here has been rewarded with a result that almost nobody saw coming at the tournament's start. Uzbekistan's exit after also producing some results in the group stage is the kind of elimination that ends pools — if anyone still alive had them stashed as a late pick, they are out.
Pre-match predictions
Pre-match forecasts were finely balanced: both sides needed a win to guarantee progress, and models placed DR Congo marginally ahead at around 43% to Uzbekistan's 32%, with a 25% chance of a draw. Uzbekistan's early goal seemed to flip the script, and at 1-0 down, DR Congo looked like the story was going to script. The second-half turnaround defied the first-half pattern entirely — three goals in 23 minutes from the team who had been behind.
Standout stats
DR Congo's 19 attempts to Uzbekistan's 3 in the second half, per FIFA match data, tells the story of one of the most one-sided 45-minute periods of the group stage. Yoane Wissa's two goals make him DR Congo's joint-top scorer at a single World Cup in the country's history — a record set, then immediately matched, in the same 90 minutes. DR Congo's qualification is also the first time an African nation has reached the round of 32 from Group K in this expanded 48-team tournament format, a milestone for the continent's representation in the later stages.
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