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Yoane Wissa scored twice as DR Congo beat Uzbekistan 3-1 and qualified for the last 32 of the World Cup for the first time in their history. They will meet England after registering their first World Cup win.
Eldor Shomurodov’s lob over Lionel Mpasi gave the Uzbeks a perfect start in Atlanta. But the Newcastle striker Wissa levelled from the penalty spot before Fiston Mayele’s goal sent the mainly Congolese crowd into a frenzy.
Wissa rounded off a historic night for the Africans with a fine strike in stoppage time for his third goal of the tournament.
“We’ll start work immediately on preparing,” said the DRC head coach, Sébastien Desabre. “We’ve got a few players in the squad who play at clubs in the English league, so they will help us, but we’ll prepare in the best way we can for what is going to be a very big match for us.”
Uzbekistan knew before kick-off they were realistically eliminated given the massive swing in goal difference they would need to progress. However, the Italian great Fabio Cannavaro stressed the importance of a win as a legacy for their first World Cup appearance and his players flew out of the traps.
Shomurodov smashed home after just 30 seconds but was flagged offside though Uzbekistan’s captain and all-time leading scorer had to wait just 10 minutes longer for his moment to savour. The Istanbul Basaksehir striker produced a sumptuous lob over Mpasi from a narrow angle.
Nathanaël Mbuku thought he had brought the Congolese level with an equally fine strike that arrowed into the top corner. However, after a VAR review Mbuku was punished for a soft foul on Sherzod Nasrullaev in the buildup as his hand brushed the face of the Uzbek defender.
The DRC were beginning to run out of ideas until a rash challenge from Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov on Wissa gifted them a route back into the game and into the knockout stages. Wissa picked himself up to calmly send Abduvohid Nematov the wrong way and whip up an explosion of noise from the nearly 70,000 in attendance.
Two minutes later, the majority of the fans saw the moment of history they came for. Meschack Elia’s deflected shot held up just enough for Mayele to nip in ahead of Nematov and flick the ball into the net.
Wissa completed the comeback by curling into the far corner from the edge of the area.
“The World Cup is brutal,” said Cannavaro. “The players gave everything. They are sad in the changing room. They suffer more than anyone in Uzbekistan.”
The DRC’s progress continued a stunning World Cup so far for African sides. Only Tunisia of the 10 African teams at the tournament have been eliminated, while Algeria can join the eight nations to have progressed to the last 32 in the final group matches later on Saturday.
