White House Issues 21 Day Ebola Ultimatum To DR Congo Squad
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing the prospect of being shut out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup if its national team fails to comply with a strict 21 day isolation directive issued by United States health and tournament authorities ahead of the squad’s scheduled June 11 arrival in Houston, Texas.
The Congolese team, drawn in Group K alongside Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan, is due to open its campaign against Portugal at NRG Stadium, Houston, on June 17, marking the country’s return to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years. According to ESPN, the side qualified after Axel Tuanzebe’s 100th minute header sealed a 1-0 intercontinental playoff victory over Jamaica in Guadalajara, completing the 48 team field.
The Executive Director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, told ESPN on Friday that the squad must remain within a strict training bubble in Belgium and isolate for 21 days before entering American territory, or risk being denied entry.
“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,” Giuliani said. “We’ve 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. We cannot be any clearer.”
He further warned: “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.”
The directive follows a deadly outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease, a rare strain of Ebola, in eastern DRC. On May 15, 2026, DRC’s Ministry of Public Health declared its 17th Ebola outbreak, with the World Health Organization (WHO) classifying the situation a Public Health Emergency of International Concern the following day. As of May 21, the WHO had recorded 746 suspected cases and 176 deaths in DRC, along with 85 confirmed cases across DRC and Uganda. Case fatality rates from previous Bundibugyo outbreaks have ranged between 30 and 50 percent, and there is no licensed vaccine for the strain.
Despite the warning, DRC has indicated it will not alter its preparations. A team spokesperson told Reuters that the squad will proceed with friendlies against Denmark in Liège on June 3 and against Chile in Cádiz, Spain, on June 9. A planned celebratory visit to Kinshasa has, however, been scrapped.
“We have kept our training programme. No player in the squad has come from DR Congo,” a team official was quoted by Reuters as saying.