World Cup 2026 opens in three days on June 11, and the most complex public health situation surrounding the tournament escalated this weekend after the mayor of La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, signed a decree banning the DR Congo national team from playing a scheduled June 9 warm-up match against Chile citing "recommendations from the regional government's health service" about the Ebola risk the Congolese delegation could pose to local residents.
The cancellation marks the clearest sign yet that public health measures involving the DRC team's World Cup participation are under growing strain as the tournament begins. Ebola outbreak conditions driving these measures have expanded since the WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17.
