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DR Congo came back from a goal down to defeat 3-1 Uzbekistan in the , held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, securing their place in the next round as one of the best third-placed teams in the tournament.
The match kicked off with a Uzbek strike: Eldor Shomurodov opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a clear shot that put Uzbekistan ahead. In the 17th minute, N. Mbuku thought he had equalized for the Congolese team, but the VAR disallowed the goal for a foul, leaving the score at 0-1 at halftime.
The second half was a monologue from the DR Congo. Yoane Wissa equalized from the penalty spot in the 68th minute for 1-1. Nine minutes later, Flory Mayele—who came on in the 51st minute to replace Cédric Bakambu—scored to make it 2-1 with an open-field goal.
In the dying moments of the game, Wissa himself sealed the score with his second goal of the match, making it a final 3-1.
The statistics reflected Congolese dominance: 58% possession, 18 shots (four on target) compared to just three from Uzbekistan (one on target), and 15 fouls committed by the Uzbeks against six from the Africans.
The match issued a total of five yellow cards: three for the DR Congo (Sadiki in the 21st minute, Mbuku in the 45th, and Moutoussamy in the 62nd) and two for Uzbekistan (Khusanov in the 43rd and Nasrullaev in the 48th).
With this result, the : Colombia finished first with 7 points (two victories and one draw), Portugal second with 5 points (one victory and two draws), and RD del Congo third with 4 points as the best third-place team in the tournament. Uzbekistan ended the group stage in last place with zero points and a goal difference of -9 in three matches.
The Congolese victory holds additional historical significance: the Democratic Republic of the Congo advances to the next phase of a World Cup 52 years later than its only previous participation, when it competed as Zaire in 1974. Uzbekistan, for its part, bids farewell to the tournament as the first Central Asian team to compete in a World Cup, although it did not earn any points in its three group stage matches.
Wissa, an undisputed figure of the match with his double goal, was also the author of the first World Cup goal for the Democratic Republic of Congo in the opening match against Portugal, becoming the key offensive reference for his team in this tournament.
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