DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre has advised his team to play without fear and take calculated risks against Portugal in their opening FIFA World Cup 2026 fixture.
He stated that the Leopards must impose their own style of play and exploit the pressure on the favored European side.
“I want my team to play, so we’ll take risks. Those risks will be measured. There’s no fear ahead of those big events,” Desabre told reporters ahead of the game as quoted by Reuters.
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“What we have to do is to deal with the pressure, the pressure of the first game. We also have a great strength that we’ll be using on the pitch, and we’re going to get started with our own specific style of play, and we are, of course, highly motivated.
“We are excited to play against such a big team.”
In his message to the DR Congo fans, Desabre said: “There are different options. We will start with one option… and based on the balance of power, we’ll see.
“We have 100 million Congolese people who will be watching us. Of course, we want to perform well. We want to show courage. And we’ll do our best on the pitch.”
Defender Axel Tuanzebe echoed the coach’s sentiments, noting that the pressure is entirely on Portugal and that DR Congo has identified exploitable weaknesses in their opponents’ gameplay.
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“They do have places that we can exploit and get a result from. There’s no pressure on us.
“Most of the pressure is on them, and sometimes pressure can get the better of you. We want to play our game and see where the results lead us.
“We want to have a good World Cup, for sure. We’re not going to set our expectations too high, but we definitely can make an impact to help uplift African football as well. We’re here to play our part, and let’s see how far we can get.”
