2026 World Cup: White House Mandates 21-Day Isolation for Portugal's Opponent

The DR Congo national team, set to face Portugal in the 2026 World Cup, has been instructed to undergo a 21-day isolation period before entering the United States for the FIFA tournament. This measure is a direct response to the Ebola outbreak in their home country. The team, which is in Group K alongside Portugal, Colombia, and Uzbekistan, had its training camp in Kinshasa canceled and is now training in Belgium.

This directive follows a US entry ban, imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on non-US citizens who have been in DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within 21 days prior to travel.

Andrew Giuliani, Executive Director of the White House World Cup Task Force, emphasized the critical need for the team to maintain a "bubble" in Belgium. "They need to keep that bubble, or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be clearer," he told ESPN.

Given that all DR Congo players are based outside the country and the Kinshasa training camp was scrapped, the athletes themselves will not be directly affected by the travel restrictions. However, Giuliani warned of the risks associated with any external contact: "If other people join, they need to have a separate bubble from the team," he stated. "If they end up coming and any of those people show symptoms, they're risking the entire team's ability to come and compete in this World Cup."

It's worth noting that last Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) elevated the public health risk of the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo from "high" to "very high." WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus specified that the risk in the broader African region is "high," but remains "low" globally.

DR Congo has friendly matches scheduled against Denmark on June 3rd in Belgium, and against Chile on June 9th in Spain. Their World Cup debut, which runs from June 11th to July 19th, will be against Portugal on June 17th.