A friendly match between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile, scheduled for June 9 in La Linea de la Concepcion, southern Spain, as a World Cup 2026 warm-up, has been canceled over Ebola concerns.
Mayor Juan Franco said he signed a decree banning the match as a "precautionary measure," following recommendations from the health authorities of the Andalusia regional government. He added that the city's health service chief had "firmly" advised against holding the match due to health risks.
The DR Congo team, which qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 (when it was known as Zaire), canceled its training camp at home after an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country in mid-May. The players are currently training in Belgium, where they will play a friendly against Denmark on June 5 in Liège.
The Congolese Football Federation said the team was fully complying with outbreak control procedures set by World Cup host nations (USA, Canada, and Mexico). The US requires the entire DR Congo squad to undergo a 21-day quarantine before being allowed entry.
During the World Cup, DR Congo is scheduled to base itself in Houston, Texas (USA), where it will play its opening group K match against Portugal on June 17. The team will then travel to Guadalajara (Mexico) to face Colombia on June 24, before returning to the US to play Uzbekistan in Atlanta, Georgia on June 28.
