Ronaldo begins his career with a sudden stumble... and Congo asserts itself strongly

The Portuguese national team stumbled at the beginning of its campaign in the 2026 World Cup, after being content with a positive draw (1-1) against the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the confrontation that brought them together in the first round of the group stage.The Portuguese national team entered the match strongly, and succeeded in opening the scoring early in the ninth minute through Joao Neves, who took advantage of his country’s advantage in the first minutes to give “Brazil of Europe” an early advantage.The team continued. The Portuguese tried to consolidate the score, with dangerous moves by captain Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates, but the Congolese national team showed a strong personality and succeeded in withstanding the Portuguese pressure.Moments before the end of the first half, Joao and Wetha managed to score the equalizer for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 45th minute, bringing his team back into the atmosphere of the match and giving the match a new turn before heading to the locker rooms.In the second half, the two teams exchanged offensive attempts amid a clear desire to snatch a goal. The victory, but the defenses and goalkeepers excelled in keeping the danger away from the net, so the confrontation ended in a positive draw with one goal to one.With this result, each team earned its first point in the group, while the Portuguese team received an early blow in the race for the top spot in the group, after one of the most prominent candidates competing for the title failed to achieve victory during his first appearance in the tournament.The Portuguese team, led by the legend Cristiano Ronaldo, hopes to correct the course during the coming rounds, and continue the journey of searching for the title. The World Cup, which represents the biggest dream in Don’s international career, in what may be his last participation on the World Cup stage.