Ebola Outbreak Forces DR Congo to Relocate World Cup Preparations

Addis Ababa, May 21, 2026 (FMC) — The Democratic Republic of Congo national football team has relocated a planned pre-World Cup training camp from Kinshasa to Belgium amid growing concerns over the Ebola outbreak affecting parts of the Central African nation.

The training camp, initially scheduled to run for three days in the Congolese capital, was moved to Belgium, a team official confirmed, according to AFP.

While the official did not directly attribute the decision to the Ebola outbreak, he noted that no domestically based players had been included in the national squad.

The latest Ebola outbreak, declared in eastern DR Congo last Friday, marks the country’s 17th outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever. Health authorities suspect the outbreak has already claimed 139 lives from around 600 probable cases.

DR Congo secured qualification for the FIFA World Cup for only the second time in the nation’s history, having previously appeared at the tournament in 1974 when the country competed as Zaire.

The team is expected to base its World Cup preparations in Houston during the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

DR Congo are scheduled to open their Group K campaign against Portugal on June 17 before facing Colombia in Guadalajara on June 24 and Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 28.

Meanwhile, a US official said on Tuesday that the Congolese national team would still be permitted to travel for the tournament despite recently imposed health-related travel restrictions linked to the Ebola outbreak.

The United States has temporarily barred non-American travelers who have recently been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the previous 21 days. However, officials indicated the Congolese squad had already been training in Europe and would therefore likely not be affected by the restrictions, Reuters reported.