ATLANTA (AP) — Congo has advanced to the finals. world cup They achieved their first win with a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan on Saturday night.
This will be the second time in 52 years that an African country will take part in soccer’s biggest tournament. Two second-half goals from Yoann Wissa and one goal from Fiston Meiere sealed the victory for Congo. join cape verde As another surprise qualifying round round 32.
Uzbekistan looked to dash Congo’s hopes as Eldor Shomrodov took the lead in the first half.
But Sebastien Desables’ side, who had already achieved one of the World Cup’s surprising results by holding Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal to a 1-1 draw in their opening game, fought back after the break.
Congo equalized in the 10th minute with a lob goal from Shomrodov, and leveled the score in the 68th minute when Ouissa was brought down by Abdukkodir Kusanov in the penalty area, giving away a penalty.
Wissa regained his composure and rolled the ball the other way past Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov, sparking a dramatic finale.
Ten minutes later, Congo took the lead when Maiele flicked past Nematov at the near post after Meshack Elia’s shot was deflected.
Wissa put the result beyond doubt with a curling shot into the bottom corner in stoppage time.
Congo’s only previous appearance at the World Cup was in 1974 as Zaire, losing all three games, including a 9-0 loss to Yugoslavia.
The draw with Portugal was the first point of this stage and they needed to follow it up with a first win to progress to one of the best third place teams.
They became the eighth African country to advance from the group stage in this tournament.
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