Portugal‘s quest to win the World Cup for the first time got off to a stuttering start as they were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo in their Group K opener.
Roberto Martinez’s side are well fancied to contend for the trophy in what will be his final World Cup as coach, and what could be the final World Cup of Cristiano Ronaldo’s illustrious career.
Portugal appeared on course for a routine win when Joao Neves opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but Martinez’s men were lacklustre thereafter.
Indeed, DR Congo, making their first appearance at the World Cup since 1974, when the country was known as Zaire, grew into the game and found a deserved leveller in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time as Yoane Wissa levelled with a fine header that marked their first goal in the finals.
Sébastien Desabre’s created the better opportunities to win the game in the second half as Portugal laboured with Ronaldo a peripheral figure.
Ronaldo will have been keen to quickly make his mark on the tournament after stunning performances from the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi on Tuesday. Instead, the day belonged to DR Congo as they claimed an historic first point at a World Cup.
DR Congo frustrate Portugal for historic first point
It looked as if the floodgates might open when Neves turned Pedro Neto’s left-wing cross beyond Lionel Mpasi to become the third-youngest Portuguese scorer at a World Cup.
However, DR Congo responded well, with Wissa curling wide as they sought to restore parity.
And Wissa ensured DR Congo were rewarded for a strong finish to the first half, the Newcastle United striker putting a difficult season for his club behind him to power home a close-range header from Arthur Masuaku’s cross following a short corner.
Portugal made a change ahead of the second half, with Francisco Conceicao replacing Bernardo Silva, and they had the ball in the net for a second time after a spectacular overhead kick from Joao Cancelo, only for the full-back’s effort to be correctly ruled out for offside.
Cedric Bakambu struck the near post at the other end as DR Congo threatened to complete the turnaround, and the same player fired over at the end of a counter-attack shortly after Ronaldo had shot wide from a Conceicao pull back.
Bruno Fernandes went close with a long-range effort late on but, in reality, DR Congo rarely looked troubled as they wrote a stunning chapter in their football history and Portugal produced a showing that will raise more questions about their reliance on Ronaldo at this point in his career.
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