{"id":304088,"date":"2025-11-20T23:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/304088\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T23:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:05:08","slug":"heres-dr-congos-potential-2026-world-cup-play-off-final-opponent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/304088\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s DR Congo\u2019s potential 2026 World Cup play-off final opponent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanaweb.com\/GhanaHomePage\/SportsArchive\/Here-s-DR-Congo-s-potential-2026-World-Cup-play-off-final-opponent-2010340?gallery=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/65934952.295.jpg\" alt=\"DR Congo defeated Nigeria 4-3 on penalties in the Africa play-off final\" title=\"DR Congo defeated Nigeria 4-3 on penalties in the Africa play-off final\" width=\"295\" height=\"166\" \/> <\/a>DR Congo defeated Nigeria 4-3 on penalties in the Africa play-off final<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-123\">DR Congo now have a clear route to the 2026 World Cup after the intercontinental play-off draw in Zurich paired them with either Jamaica or New Caledonia in a single decisive match on March 31, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The Leopards advanced to this stage after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Nigeria, a result that secured their place among the two seeded teams based on FIFA ranking.<\/p>\n<p>Their opponent will be determined when Jamaica face New Caledonia in a semi-final game.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of that tie will progress to meet DR Congo in Mexico, where the final play-off tournament will be held.<\/p>\n<p>The other seeded team, Iraq, will await the winner of the Bolivia versus Suriname semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>For DR Congo, the draw represents the final barrier to a long-awaited World Cup return. The nation last appeared at the tournament in 1974, competing under the name Zaire.<\/p>\n<p>Their recent triumph over Nigeria showcased their composure, with goalkeeper Timothy Fayulu saving two penalties to secure qualification for the play-off stage.<\/p>\n<p>The Leopards now stand one game away from history.<\/p>\n<p>With Mexico set to host the play-off finals, DR Congo will enter the decisive match knowing that victory guarantees a place at the expanded 48-team World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DR Congo defeated Nigeria 4-3 on penalties in the Africa play-off final DR Congo now have a clear&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-304088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}