FIFA World Cup 2026: There has been a major public health scare that has affected the global excitement surrounding the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s national football team are to be placed into a strict three-week quarantine before they can enter the United States for the marquee tournament after an escalation of an Ebola outbreak back home.
DR Congo’s World Cup preparations have been thrown into chaos after their planned pre-tournament training camp in the capital Kinshasa was suddenly cancelled. For safety reasons and to continue training, the squad moved to Belgium. But US authorities are not taking any chances. The delegation from the African nation must remain under tight isolation inside a secure medical “bubble” while in Europe, said Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the FIFA World Cup.
“We have been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th. We have made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble, or they risk not being able to travel to the United States,” Giuliani said during an interview with ESPN.
The tough mandate is in line with defensive measures taken by US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Non-US travellers who have been in DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days are barred from entering the country by the CDC. The restrictions are being put in place as health agencies scramble to contain the virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday officially increased the public health risk level within DR Congo from ‘high’ to ‘very high’. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk across the wider African region was ‘high’ but the global risk level currently remained ‘low’.
For the US organisers, the highest priority is to keep the tournament safe. Giuliani emphasised the host country’s “no-compromise” position on border security and health protocols: “We want to make sure that there is nothing that is going to come in or near our borders here on this. We want to make sure that there is nothing that is going to come in or near our borders here on this.”
The stakes could not be higher for the DR Congo team. But if one player doesn’t follow the protocol or gets sick, their lifelong dream of playing on the biggest stage in football could be lost in an instant. “If they end up coming and any of those people end up symptomatic, they are risking the entire team being able to come and compete in this World Cup,” Giuliani warned.
If the bubble holds, Congo will go to Texas on June 11th. They begin their World Cup campaign against Portugal on Sunday, June 17, at the NRG Stadium in Houston.
Debayan Bhattacharyya is a seasoned sports journalist and digital media professional, currently serving as the Chief Sub Editor at ITV Digital (NewsX). A true Football-Fanatic Bong, his professional journey began at Zee Media, where he kicked off his career as a Sub-Editor for the sports team at India.com and CricketCountry. His ability to blend insightful analysis with rapid-fire news delivery soon led him to Times Network, where he served as a Senior Copy Editor for Times Now. Before his current role at NewsX, Debayan spent a significant tenure at OneIndia’s MyKhel as a Senior Sub Editor.
