World Cup Story Feed / 世界杯事情流
World Cup Story Feed / 世界杯事情流
Newcastle bought Yoane Wissa for £55 million, and he only scored 3 goals in a whole Premier League season. The British media almost put him on the clearance list during the summer transfer window.
Newcastle paid £55 million for Yoane Wissa, and he scored just three goals in an entire Premier League season. British media nearly put him on the summer cleanup list.
By the 2026 World Cup, he matched that total in just three group stage games. Those three goals dragged the Democratic Republic of Congo into the round of 32.
Five years ago, this man nearly lost his sight. In July 2021, a woman threw acid at his face in France. Severe burns to his face and eyes, rushed into emergency surgery. Even the lead surgeon couldn't guarantee his vision would survive. He hadn't joined Brentford yet.
Now, at 29 years old and 1.76 meters tall, Wissa stands on World Cup turf. Over three matches, he scored all his team's goals—header, penalty, stoppage-time winner.
The group stage opener against Portugal. João Neves headed one in at the 6th minute, Pedro Neto's cross from the left was pinpoint. The Congolese didn't shrink. In the 5th minute of first-half stoppage time, Masuaku whipped in a cross from the left. Both Portuguese center-backs dropped too deep, leaving the second ball unprotected. Wissa squeezed between two defenders, his 1.76m frame rising to meet the highest point in the box, powering the ball into the net. 1-1.
With that goal, he became the first African player since 1934 to score his country's first two World Cup goals.
The final whistle blew. The team's first-ever World Cup goal and first World Cup point were safely tucked away. Coach Desabre said in the post-match press conference that many Congolese could be proud of this team today. No lies there.
Six days later against Colombia, pure bad luck. Daniel Muñoz's 76th-minute shot deflected off a Congolese defender's leg, catching the keeper completely off balance. Nothing to do but accept it. 0-1, one point from two games, hopes dangling by a thread.
The final match against Uzbekistan. They took a blow in the first half. A draw was basically death, a loss meant booking tickets home.
68th minute, penalty. Wissa stepped up, scored. 1-1.
78th minute, Meschak Elia's shot deflected off an Uzbek defender. The ball took an unpredictable curve, the entire Uzbek defense froze for half a second. That half-second was all Mayele needed to sprint to the near post and stab the rebound into the net. 2-1.
Stoppage time, 90+1 minute, Wissa scored again. 3-1.
Team's first World Cup win, first knockout stage qualification. Desabre said this is a team that knows how to respond after conceding. Those words hit hard.
This victory, the Congolese waited 52 years for.
In 1974, the team was still called Zaire, the first sub-Saharan African team to play in a World Cup. Group stage record: 0-2 vs Scotland, 0-9 vs Yugoslavia, 0-3 vs Brazil. Zero goals, 14 conceded.
That 0-9 day in Gelsenkirchen. After the match, dictator Mobutu sent elite guards to block the hotel entrance with a message: lose more goals, and your families back home will be in trouble.
Third match against Brazil. Defender Muépé Ilunga did something that made the world laugh for thirty years. As Brazil prepared a free kick, he suddenly rushed out of the wall and kicked the ball away. Commentators were stunned, and for decades it was treated as a joke about not knowing the rules. Until 2002, when Ilunga explained himself: he heard Mobutu's threat, knew Brazil couldn't be allowed to score again, so he did the only thing he could—destroy that free kick.
52 years later, Congolese players no longer play under a dictator's gun. But any Congolese born after 1974 had never seen their country's flag raised at a World Cup before this tournament.
Getting to America was a miracle in itself. The intercontinental playoff final against Jamaica in late March went to 90 minutes of deadlock, then extra time. In the 100th minute, former Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe put the ball into Jamaica's net. 1-0. The 47th qualified team was born. Tuanzebe said it was the greatest moment of his career.
Their round of 32 opponent is England.
A £55 million (initial £50 million plus £5 million in add-ons) Premier League striker who scored three goals, the scar from the acid attack still on his face, is about to crash into England's most expensive defense in the world.
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