Cristiano Ronaldo will spearhead Portugal’s challenge at the World Cup which starts this afternoon against DR Congo.
The 41-year-old remains the first choice in the number nine role for boss Roberto Martinez and will be hoping for a fine performance to silence those that believe Portugal would be stronger without him.
Two-time African champions DR Congo are making their second appearance at the World Cup, having lost three games in 1974, when they were known as Zaire.
“Our path to qualification was quite difficult,” said head coach Sebastien DesabreIt, discussing a run that also included seven wins, a draw and two defeats to finish two points behind automatic qualifiers Senegal during the initial stage. “It was a do-or-die situation [against Jamaica].”
This is the first match in Group K, which continues when Uzbekistan meet Colombia in Mexico City on Thursday (03:00 BST).
Where to watch Portugal v DR Congo: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Wednesday is at 18:00 BST (13:00 ET / 10:00 PT). In the UK, live coverage is on BBC One.
Streaming on a vast range of devices is available through the BBC iPlayer app and BBC Sport website.
World Cup 2026: Portugal v DR Congo stats
- Since Portugal’s best ever World Cup finish – third place in 1966 – their only other semi-final appearance has been in 2006, exiting against France before losing the third-place match to hosts Germany
- Portugal are one of five European teams to have made an appearance at every World Cup
since 2002, alongside England, France, Germany and Spain - They have reached the knockout stage at four of the last five World Cup tournaments and scored in 10 of their last 11 matches at the finals, the exception being their 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Morocco in 2022
- Ronaldo is the only player to have scored at five World Cup tournaments and could become the only player – potentially alongside Lionel Messi – to appear at six editions
- Selecao head coach Roberto Martínez is at his third World Cup as a head coach, having guided Belgium to a third-place finish in 2018 and a group-stage exit in 2022
- Martinez is the third non-Portuguese head coach to lead the team at the finals, after Brazilians Otto Gloria and Luiz Felipe Scolari
- Only Wales (64 years, between 1958 and 2022), Egypt (56 years, between 1934 and 1990) and Norway (56 years, between 1938 and 1994) have had longer gaps in successive World Cup participations than DR Congo
- Only Bolivia (first 5 games), Canada and Greece (first 4 games) have played more games at the tournament before scoring their first goal than DR Congo, who are yet to open their account
- Including play-offs, 10 of DR Congo’s 13 qualifying matches were drawn (2) or decided by a one-goal margin (6 wins, 2 losses), while keeping a clean sheet in eight of their 13 matches
- In African qualifying, only Gambia and Gabon (3 each) had more players with at least six goal involvements than DR Congo, for whom Cedric Bakambu (4 goals, 2 assists) and Wissa (3 goals, 3 assists) contributed six each
- Desabre is at his third major tournament in charge of DR Congo, who the Frenchman guided them to fourth place at the 2023 AFCON and the round of 16 at the 2025 edition
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