Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq secured berths at the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday following victories over Jamaica and Bolivia respectively in the two inter-confederation play-off finals.
DRC defeated Jamaica 1-0 after extra-time to advance to the quadrennial event for the first time since 1974 when the national team appeared as Zaire. They will join nine other sides from Africa in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Defender Axel Tuanzebe scored the only goal of the game at the Akron Stadium near Guadalajara.
The 28-year-old, who plays for the English Premier League outfit Burnley, prodded the ball over the goal line following a corner in the first-half of extra-time to register his first goal for his country.
DRC will open their Group K campaign at the first World Cup to feature 48 teams against Portugal on 17 June at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
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Six days later at the Akron Stadium, they face Colombia. DRC finish the pool stages on 27 June with a tie against Uzbekistan at the Mercedez Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“We’re going to enjoy the qualification, but we’ll keep working," said DRC skipper Chancel Mbemba.
"We know we’ll be facing top nations who play in the World Cup every four years," added the 31-year-old who turns out for the French Ligue 1 team Lille.
"We’ll stay humble, keep our feet on the ground, and continue to work. We’ll give everything to make our supporters and our people proud.”
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In Monterrey, Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the event.
They beat Bolivia 2-1 to seal their first appearance at the World Cup since it took place in Mexico in 1986.
Ali Al-Hamadi opened the scoring after 10 minutes at the Estadio BBVA. Moises Paniagua levelled for Bolivia just before the pause. Iraq regained the lead eight minutes after the restart when captain Aymen Hussein swept his shot past the Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra.
“Everything that is going on in the Middle East made it a little bit harder," said Iraq coach Graham Arnold.
“I banned social media since the day we got here," he added. "I did not want them to think of what is going on in the Middle East because they had to focus on the job we had here.”
Iraq will play in Group I against the 2022 runners-up France, Senegal and Norway.
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In Europe, Turkey, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Czech Republic advanced to the World Cup following play-off final victories on Tuesday night.
In Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina ousted four-time winners Italy following a penalty shoot-out. The Czech Republic dispatched Denmark by the same method.
Turkey edged past Kosovo 1-0 and in Solna, near Stockholm, the Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres rammed the ball home two minutes from time to give Sweden a 3-2 victory over Poland and send Graham Potter's men to the World Cup where they will feature in Group F alongside the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia.
(With newswires)
