A dramatic path to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has reopened for the Super Eagles of Nigeria following the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has thrown the Congolese national team’s tournament preparations into chaos.
Earlier this month, DR Congo confirmed an outbreak of Bundibugyo Ebola, a rare strain of the virus, with more than 130 deaths reported among nearly 600 suspected cases.
The development has created fresh uncertainty about the participation of the Congolese national team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, opening a slim yet significant possibility for the Nigeria national football team to return to contention.
Nigeria’s qualification hopes had previously suffered a major setback after the Super Eagles lost to the DR Congo on penalties in the final round of the African qualifying play-offs.
Following that defeat, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) lodged a formal protest with FIFA, questioning the eligibility of several players from DR Congo.
The NFF alleged that the Congolese Football Federation had misled FIFA while processing nationality switches for some overseas-born players. However, FIFA later dismissed the protest.
WHO Raises Ebola Risk Level
The growing health crisis has now complicated DR Congo’s World Cup preparations. The World Health Organisation has raised the national risk level of the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo to ‘very high’ as infections and fatalities continue to rise.
Speaking during a media briefing on Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed the revised assessment.
‘Previously, WHO assessed the risk as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level. We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level,’ he said.
DR Congo Forced Into Biosecurity Bubble
The Ebola outbreak has already forced major disruptions to DR Congo’s World Cup preparations.
The team cancelled its planned training camp in Kinshasa and moved preparations to Belgium, where the squad is now expected to remain inside a strict three-week biosecurity bubble before being cleared to enter the United States.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the FIFA World Cup, said strict protocols had been communicated to the Congolese delegation.
‘We have been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th.’
He added: ‘We have made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble, or they risk not being able to travel to the United States.’
Giuliani further stressed American concerns over border safety during the tournament.
‘We want to make sure that there is nothing that is going to come in or near our borders here on this.’
Nigeria Monitoring Situation Closely
All members of the DR Congo squad, including French head coach Sébastien Desabre, are based outside the country, with most players featuring professionally in Europe.
Their squad includes stars such as Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Yoane Wissa and captain Chancel Mbemba.
DR Congo are scheduled to face Denmark in a friendly in Liège on June 3 before taking on Chile in southern Spain on June 9.
Although the prospect remains highly unlikely, any inability by DR Congo to participate in the World Cup could potentially reopen the door for either Nigeria or Jamaica, who were also beaten by DR Congo during the qualification process.
Expanded 2026 World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be the biggest edition in the tournament’s history.
The competition will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026, featuring 48 teams in an expanded format, with the final scheduled for New York-New Jersey.