Portugal will play their first match of the 2026 World Cup at noon on Wednesday (17:00 GMT) at the Houston stadium in Texas, USA. Their opponents are DR Congo – a team making only their second appearance at the tournament and yet to score a goal or earn a point on football's biggest stage.
This is Cristiano Ronaldo' sixth World Cup and widely seen as his last. The 41-year-old remains the only player to have scored at five consecutive World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022) but has never scored in the knockout stages. At the 2022 tournament he managed only one goal, from the penalty spot; at Euro 2024 he failed to score at all.
Portugal boast a golden generation that includes Vitinha, Joao Neves and Nuno Mendes – players who just helped PSG win a second consecutive Champions League – along with Bruno Fernandes, who set a Premier League assist record with 21. Yet Ronaldo remains the team's spiritual leader, despite a relatively disappointing season at Al-Nassr (30 goals in 37 games).
DR Congo, meanwhile, return to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years (when the nation was known as Zaire). Their preparations were disrupted by an Ebola outbreak, but under coach Sebastien Desabre the side has shown clear improvement. Their defence features familiar Premier League faces such as Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham), Axel Tuanzebe (Burnley) and Arthur Masuaku (Sunderland).
If Portugal finish top of Group K, they will face a third-placed team in the round of 32 – a round introduced for the first time at the 2026 World Cup. That match falls on 3 July, exactly one year after the death of striker Diogo Jota, who was killed in a traffic accident after helping Portugal win the Nations League.
The match between Portugal and DR Congo is the first ever meeting between the two nations. According to Opta, Portugal (ranked 5th by FIFA) are clear favourites, but DR Congo have nearly a one-in-four chance of springing a surprise.
