DR Congo cancel World Cup training in Kinshasa amid Ebola outbreak

DR Congo celebrate after qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 by beating Jamaica 1-0 during the playoff match at the Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico on March 31, 2026. [AFP]

The Democratic Republic of Congo national football team have cancelled a planned pre-World Cup training camp at home after the country was hit by an Ebola outbreak, a team official told AFP Wednesday.

The outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever was declared in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last Friday.

The 17th Ebola outbreak to hit the DRC is already suspected of having caused 139 deaths from around 600 probable cases.

The training camp that "was due to begin in Kinshasa for three days" has been "relocated" to Belgium, a team press officer told AFP, without confirming whether the Ebola outbreak was the reason for the decision.

"No players based domestically have been selected" for the national squad, he added.

DR Congo have qualified for the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, for only the second time after playing in 1974, when the country was known as Zaire.

They have planned to be based in Houston during the tournament, where they will play their first Group K match on June 17 against Portugal.

DR Congo are then scheduled to head to Guadalajara to play Colombia on June 24 before returning to the United States to play Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 28.

A US official said Tuesday the team would be able to travel to play in the World Cup.

The United States has banned non-Americans who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from visiting due to the outbreak.

The US official said the DR Congo had already been training in Europe so may not have been subject to the ban in any case.

But if they in fact were in DR Congo over the last 21 days, they would be subject to strict screening of the sort required for returning American citizens -- not a complete ban.