DR Congo to play Portugal without fear in World Cup opener has called on his players to show up without fear when they take on Portugal in their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener at Houston Stadium on Wednesday.
The Leopards will be returning to the World Cup stage for the second time since their first appearance in 1974 when they were popularly known as Zaire.
Their journey will start against Portugal, who have qualified for the FIFA World Cup nine times, since debuting in 1966. While Portugal have never won the tournament, their best result was a third-place finish in 1966.
“I want my team to play, so we’ll take risks. Those risks will be measured. There’s no fear ahead of those big events,” Desabre told reporters ahead of the game as quoted by Reuters.
“What we have to do is to deal with the pressure, the pressure of the first game. We also have a great strength that we’ll be using on the pitch, and we’re going to get started with our own specific style of play, and we are, of course, highly motivated. We are excited to play against such a big team.”
On his message to the DR Congo fans, Desabre said: “There are different options. We will start with one option… and based on the balance of power, we’ll see.
“We have 100 million Congolese people who will be watching us. Of course, we want to perform well. We want to show courage. And we’ll do our best on the pitch.”
After playing against Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal, the Leopards will also face Colombia on June 23rd, and Uzbekistan on June 27th.
