CK Updates
DR Congo end 52-year wait for the World Cup
DR Congo players celebrate.
©Nabil Ramdani/BackpagePix
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026. 01:25
DR Congo have ended a 52-year wait to return to the FIFA World Cup after they defeated Jamaica 1-0 in the final of Pathway 1 of the Inter Confederation Playoffs, held at Estadio Akron in Zapopan on Tuesday 31 March.
The Leopards last played at the World Cup in 1974, making their debut at the tournament in West Germany when their nation was still known as Zaire. They needed extra time to overcome the Reggae Boyz in this clash, with Axel Tuanzebe the unlikely hero by scoring in the 100th of 120 minutes.
DRC will play in Group K at the World Cup, taking on Portugal (June 17 in Houston), Colombia (June 23 in Zapopan), and Uzbekistan (June 27 in Atlanta).
DR Congo threatened a goal from the early stages and even hit the back of the net via Cedric Bakambu’s close-range finish in the fifth minute, but the veteran striker’s effort was ruled out for offside.
Bakambu went on to have further chances in the 12th and 23rd minutes – headed straight at goalkeeper Andre Blake and hit into the side netting respectively – while the closest the Leopards came to a first-half goal was from Meschack Elia in the 33rd minute.
The Turkish-based winger drove a low on target from a tight angle on the right of the penalty area – his effort clipped the outside of Blake’s left foot and rebounded off the base of the near post.
Jamaica took their time to build some attacking momentum, but had promising efforts from Kasey Palmer (which was blocked wide of the target by Chancel Mbemba) and Leon Bailey (a long-range drive which flashed just wide of the mark).
Goalless at half time, DRC almost claimed the lead early in the second half via a curling long-range shot from Bakambu, but Blake made a brilliant save to keep his team level.
The African side’s frustrations grew through the second half, as they struggled to build any kind of momentum or pressure. Bakambu had the ball in the back of the net again in the 86th minute, but substitute Theo Bongonda – who provided the assist – was offside in the build-up.
Extra time was called for and the match appeared to be headed in much the same direction, until the 100th minute when defender Axel Tuanzebe got on the end of Brian Cipenga’s corner kick and somewhat unwittingly bundled the ball over the goal line for 1-0. The goal went under VAR review, but was ultimately awarded.
Tuanzebe then provided some heroics at the other end to deny the Reggae Boyz an immediate reply, and the Leopards were able to see out the remainder of extra time to make history and put themselves back on the global stage for the first time in more than half a century.
DR Congo (0) (0) 1 (Tuanzebe 100’)
Jamaica 0
DRC: Mpasi-Nzau, Wan-Bissaka, Tuanzebe, Mbemba, Masuaku (J. Kayembe 106’), Mbuku (E. Kayembe 67’), Sadiki (Mukau 74’), Moutoussamy (Pickel 120+1’), Elia (Bongonda 58’), Wissa (Cipenga 91’), Bakambu
Jamaica: Blake, Webster (Bell 90’), Pinnock, King, Latibeaudiere, Hayden (Fray 83’), Palmer (N. Campbell 91’), DeCordova-Reid (Hall 83’), Bailey, T. Campbell (Mason-Clark 74’), Cadamarteri (Cephas 74’)
CK Updates
Commonwealth Games 2026: Soppy socks & a slathering of deep heat – rain causes chaos in Glasgow
Some athletes struggled in the conditions.
England’s Morgan Lake did not clear the bar with any of her three efforts in the high jump.
Similarly, Scotland’s Steven Stone had attempts with his glasses on his face and the top of his head in the men’s T20 long jump but did not register a clean effort.
Northern Ireland’s Kate O’Connor said she was “gutted” with her throw of 12.85m in the heptathlon shot put.
“It just kept slipping out of my hands,” she said.
“When your chalk gets wet, it’s like you might as well have dish soap on your hands and I just probably spent too much time and effort trying to stay dry rather than doing the cues that I work on in training.
“I can’t blame anybody else apart from myself for not executing.”
But there were also a number of impressive performances given the conditions.
O’Connor responded by running a dominant 24.14 seconds in the 200m to reclaim top spot of the heptathlon competition. England’s Jade O’Dowda was only eighth quickest and slipped back to second, 49 points in arrears.
In the men’s 100m, Eseme’s winning time of 9.83 was a Commonwealth Games record, the third-fastest time this year and moved him third on the all-time list of African sprinters.
The hammer throw and the high jump were briefly paused but when the former did resume Canada’s Camryn Rogers produced another Games record – 74.91m.
Even Hunt, who was slow out of the blocks and off the pace for the first 60m, finished 0.01secs outside her lifetime best of 10.97 in the women’s 100m which was won by New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs.
“I am just proud of myself for gritting it out and trusting my long legs,” Hunt said.
“Ultimately, we all have to race in the same conditions. We are all on the start line together freezing.
“You just have to get out there and get it done.”
A smattering of hardy locals even stayed until the final anthem was sung as the clocked neared 11pm.
It was a night few will forget.
CK Updates
Kick It Out calls for tougher sanctions as football discrimination reaches new high
The statistics are not a surprise to Umar Ali, who plays for Route One Rovers – a semi-professional team in Bradford.
During Ramadan last year, he was racially abused by a group of opposition spectators as he was waiting to come on as a substitute.
“It was our first game playing while we were fasting,” he said. “So obviously we were hungry that day and I was a bit less patient.
“Then when I was getting ready to come on, one of the fans said I should shave my beard off and that I looked like a paedophile.
“One of them picked up a child who was about six, seven years old, and said ‘I bet your wife’s the same age as this child’.”
Umar described the men as in their sixties.
“It’s quite distressing, because they’re older than my dad,” he added. “They’re my grandad’s age, and they felt comfortable enough to stand there and make comments like that.”
Umar said the assistant referee heard the comments and told the referee, who he claims did not take any action.
The police were eventually contacted and the spectators identified. Umar has not been informed of an outcome.
His manager Mohammed Patel was in the dugout during the match and said – while the opposition coaching staff apologised on behalf of their fans – he felt the officials fell short and should have removed those spectators shouting racist and Islamophobic abuse at his players.
Patel said: “It was a really emotional day for us, because the question we asked ourselves after that game is ‘Why is it still happening?’ Some of the things that were said were absolutely horrific.
“In my opinion, more needs to be done from the top down. We’re actively engaging and working with local FAs to try and navigate this problem, but it absolutely needs to be mandated.”
The Northern Counties East Football League fined the opposition club £300 and gave them nine disciplinary points. But Patel says that does not address the real problem.
“We’ve seen harsher punishments for violent conduct on the pitch or red cards, even administrative mistakes,” he added.
“Something as serious as this, we were absolutely not happy with the result.”
Patel has been lobbying the Football Association, but has not yet received a response.
He said: “Precedents need to be set, harsher sanctions need to be introduced. This comes from the top down.”
The FA said in a statement: “We have introduced tougher sanctions for clubs and individuals, a new behaviour improvement programme, and penalty points accumulation charges in the grassroots game.
“This builds on the steps taken to allow for deductions of league points from clubs that are repeated offenders of serious misconduct.”
CK Updates
Commonwealth Games 2026: Gymnast Ruby Evans wins first gold for Wales
Gymnast Ruby Evans has won Wales’ first Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow with victory in the floor final.
Evans, 19, performed the final routine of the women’s programme and defeated England’s Abigail Martin into silver, with her team-mate Shantae-Eve Amankwaah securing bronze.
Evans left the arena in tears on Sunday after her disappointing sixth in the all-round individual competition, that after Wales finished fourth in the team event.
Now, after Welsh identical twins Abigail and Emily Roper won bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other on Monday, Evans has delivered gold.
It was the first victory for Team Wales in Scotland and a ninth medal alongside two silver and six bronze.
There is also a guaranteed podium position for boxer Connor Williams after he reached the semi-finals.

