DR Congo will not change preparations for the World Cup despite the US Ebola warning | World Cup 2026 news

World Cup host United States has warned the Democratic Republic of Congo to withdraw over Ebola fears.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has no plans to change preparations for the 2026 World Cup, despite a warning from the United States that the team must self-isolate for 21 days before arriving in the country, a team official has said.

Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, confirmed on Friday that the Congolese delegation had to keep the information where they are being trained in Belgium and self-isolate for 21 days or face being refused entry to the country after the deadly Ebola epidemic in the central African country.

The Congolese team will be in Houston for the tournament and will play their Group K opener against Portugal on June 17, followed by matches against Colombia on June 23 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Uzbekistan on June 27 in Atlanta.

“We’ve been making it clear to the Congolese that they have to maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before coming to Houston on June 11,” Giuliani told ESPN on Saturday.

“We have made it clear to the Congolese government that they must be careful, otherwise they are at risk of not being able to go to the United States. We cannot make it any clearer.”

But a team spokesman said that at this time there were no changes to their schedule, which includes a match against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3 and another against Chile in Cadiz, Spain, six days later.

“We have kept our training. No player in the team is from DR Congo,” said the official.

All the players are outside the DRC, mostly in Europe, including coach Sebastien Desabre. A few of the team leaders arrived at the training camp in Belgium from the DRC earlier this week.

The team had planned a three-day trip to Kinshasa next week as their pre-match celebration for their first World Cup in 52 years, but the trip has been cancelled.

The World Health Organization on Friday raised the “severe threat” of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak to become a global pandemic in the DRC and declared the outbreak there and in neighboring Uganda a global emergency.

About 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded in the DRC.