4 Takeaways From DR Congo's Win Over Uzbekistan At The World Cup

After going down a goal early, DR Congo rallied past Uzbekistan and booked its spot into the Round of 32 at the World Cup - it's first knockout round appearance in team history. Yoane Wissa scored two goals to seal the victory and third place in Group K behind Colombia and Portugal, allowing the Leopards to be one of the eight third-place teams to advance to the elimination rounds. Here are takeaways from the game: 1. DR Congo Keeps Making History DR Congo wasn't a debut World Cup team - its first appearance was in 1974 when the country was known as Zaire - but this result was longtime in the making for the central African nation. DR Congo's road to the 2026 World Cup included taking down African heavyweights Cameroon and Nigeria during qualifying and then defeating Jamaica in the intercontinental playoffs in March - all games that toughened this team in win-or-go-home scenarios. At this World Cup, DR Congo showed early on it would be a tough opponent. A tough 1-1 draw to Portugal and a tight 1-0 loss to Colombia provided the Leopards with a path to the knockout stage. A talented squad - led by Wissa, who scored three of the team's four goals at the tournament - did not get rattled by its early miscue against Uzbekistan. The win also sees countries from Africa continue to make history at this World Cup. In all, eight countries from the continent will play in the knockout stage, the most ever. 2. Leopards' Lineup Changes Paid Off After drawing with Portugal in its opener and losing against Colombia, DR Congo knew only a win would be good enough to reach the Round of 32. That prompted DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre to adjust the defensive formation he used in the first two games and opt for a more aggressive approach with more attackers on the field. The Leopards conceded an early goal, but then relied on its more talented forwards to eventually break down Uzbekistan's defense in the second half. Wissa, who had several big chances throughout the game, earned a penalty to equalize the game in the 68th minute. Fiston Mayele then sealed the win with a go-ahead goal in the 78th minute after he surged past the Uzbek defense for the finish. Wissa then added a third in stoppage time to put the game on ice. 3. Despite Loss, Uzbekistan Set The Tone Early Uzbekistan entered this game knowing the chance of reaching the knockout stage was pretty much nonexistent - it needed to beat DR Congo by six goals to get third place in the group. Team captain Eldor Shomurdov slightly fanned those flames of hope with a sensational early goal, latching onto a lovely flick from Abbosbek Fayzullaev to then chip a shot over DR Congo keeper Lionel Mpasi. For Shomurodov, his 45th for the national team, it's a deserved goal. It also demonstrated why he was the joint leading scorer in the Turkish Super Lig with club Baakehir. Despite losing all three games at the World Cup, Uzbekistan can hang its hat on having at least some memorable moments during its first trip to the tournament. 4. Khusanov Showed Some Growing Pains Had Uzbekistan actually advanced to the Round of 32, it would have been without its star defender, Abdukodir Khusanov, after the Manchester City center back was booked on yet another yellow card for a hard challenge. Khusanov wiped out Wissa late in the first half after finding himself out of position, earning a well-justified booking that sent the Newcastle United forward tumbling onto the pitch. It didn't The play was fairly similar to his foul on Luis Diaz in the loss to Colombia in the group-stage opener, in which Khusanov chased down the Bayern Munich star but couldn't stop his momentum and tumbled out of bounds. Khusanov knew that coming into this tournament he was going to have to play with more urgency considering the attacking talent Uzbekistan was facing at this World Cup. It will be a learning moment for Khusanov as he develops into a more complete defender for both club and country.