DR Congo end 52-year World Cup wait as Tuanzebe's extra-time winner sinks Jamaica
For 52 years, the World Cup was a memory. DR Congo, formerly Zaire, had not been back since West Germany in 1974. On Tuesday night in Guadalajara, Axel Tuanzebe made sure the wait was finally over.
A tense night at the Akron
The intercontinental playoff between DR Congo and Jamaica at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara produced 90 minutes of chess. Both teams created chances, neither could convert, and the game went to extra time with everything still on the line. Jamaica, chasing a second World Cup appearance after their 1998 tournament in France, defended deep and made life difficult. DR Congo kept pushing.
Tuanzebe's moment
The goal, when it came, was messy and magnificent all at once. A corner into the box in the 100th minute, Jamaican defenders failing to clear it, and Burnley centre-back Tuanzebe poking the ball home from close range. He wheeled away, mobbed by teammates, knowing exactly what it meant. A defender scoring the most important goal in his country's recent football history. You could not script it.
From Zaire 1974 to the 48-team tournament
DR Congo's only previous World Cup was in 1974 under the name Zaire. They lost all three group games, including a 9-0 hammering by Yugoslavia, and went home without a point. This time, the landscape is different. The country enters a 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, drawn into Group K alongside Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan. It will not be easy, but simply being there is the point.
A country united
Back home, Wednesday was declared a public holiday. Streets filled. Flags waved. For a nation that has endured decades of conflict and instability, football offered something that politics could not: a single, uncomplicated moment of joy. The squad that delivered it features players from leagues across Europe and Africa, stitched together by a sense of purpose that was obvious from the first whistle in Guadalajara.
Iraq also qualified on Tuesday, beating Bolivia 2-1 in Monterrey to end their own 40-year absence, meaning the full 48-team lineup for the 2026 World Cup is now confirmed.
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