The Democratic Republic of Congo’s national football team is required to isolate for 21 days in a secure 'bubble' in Belgium before entering the United States for the 2026 World Cup because of an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo [1, 2, 3]. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the US White House Task Force for the World Cup, confirmed the isolation requirement and warned the team risks being denied US entry if they fail to maintain the bubble. "We've 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 11. We cannot be any clearer," Giuliani said [1, 2, 3].
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other authorities have banned entry to non-US citizens who have been in DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan during the prior 21 days because of Ebola concerns. The Congolese team is temporarily exempt from the ban only if they isolate before traveling to the US [1, 4, 5]. Giuliani added, "If there are other people that are going to be coming in, they need to have a separate bubble from that team. If they end up coming, and any of those people end up symptomatic, they are risking the entire team being able to come and compete in this World Cup."
All Congolese players and their French coach are based outside DR Congo, mostly in Europe, and no player has arrived from DR Congo recently. The team canceled a planned training camp and celebratory trip to Kinshasa due to the outbreak [2, 6, 7, 8].
The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, which currently has no approved vaccine or treatment [3, 9, 10]. The World Health Organization has raised the national risk level to "very high" and declared the outbreak an international public health emergency [1, 2, 3, 6]. The outbreak has recorded about 82 confirmed Ebola cases and seven confirmed deaths as well as roughly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths [1, 3, 9, 10].
DR Congo qualified for the World Cup for only the second time; their last appearance was in 1974 when the country was known as Zaire [3, 9]. The 2026 tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 and is hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada [1, 3].
DR Congo will base themselves in Houston for the tournament and open Group K against Portugal on June 17. They will also face Colombia on June 23 in Guadalajara and Uzbekistan on June 27 in Atlanta [2, 3, 6, 7]. Scheduled friendlies include matches against Denmark on June 3 in Liege, Belgium, and Chile on June 9 in Cadiz, Spain [1, 2, 7].
The 21-day isolation bubble in Belgium must be maintained through June 10 to meet US entry requirements ahead of their World Cup opener in Houston on June 17 [1, 2, 7].
