World Cup 2026 live: latest scores, team news, updates from day 13

The new format for the expanded 48-team World Cup has thrown up scenarios of final group matches where both teams would qualify for the knockout phase if they draw — but risk missing out if they are defeated (Martyn Ziegler writes).

Austria play Algeria in Kansas City the last match of group J with both sides on three points and unable to finish above Argentina — who play Jordan — because Fifa uses head-to-head results instead of goal difference if teams are level on points. A draw would see both Austria and Algeria qualify with four points.

DR Congo’s most-famous supporter works harder than the players. For 90 minutes and any extra time, Michel Kuka Mboladinga, dressed in a bright suit, spectacles and tie, stands completely still with one arm raised — while they at least get to run around.

The pose is borrowed from a statue of Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s independence leader who was assassinated by firing squad in 1961. By recreating it at every match, Mboladinga has become one of African football’s most recognisable fans, known simply as “Lumumba Vea” — Lumumba Lives.

After missing DR Congo’s opening 1-1 draw with Portugal in Houston because of Ebola-related travel restrictions, his unmistakable figure will finally be in the stands in Guadalajara on Tuesday night when they face Colombia. Whatever happens on the pitch — goals, fouls or late drama — Mboladinga will remain on his pedestal and perfectly still.

“I stand motionless because I believe it gives the team emotional stamina,” he told the Wall Street Journal. He trains for it too, practising the pose for 30 to 40 minutes on non-match days. “Just as Lumumba sacrificed his life for our country, mine is a small price to pay because of how deeply I care about this team.”

Thousands of Congolese supporters who bought tickets have been barred from entering the United States because of the Ebola outbreak that has swept through the country’s east. Mboladinga made it only after players and football officials persuaded President Tshisekedi to add him to the official delegation.

The DRC are appearing at the World Cup for the first time in more than half a century and reaching the knockout stage would be a considerable achievement. Their famous fan is confident of meeting them in Atlanta.

Mboladinga, a professional promoter, for the Kinshasa club AS Vita, first came to international prominence at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco earlier this year. After Algeria knocked the Congo out, the striker Mohamed Amoura appeared to mock his trademark pose during the celebrations, triggering a backlash on social media. Amoura later apologised and the Algerian football federation sent a delegation to meet Mboladinga in Casablanca, presenting him with a shirt bearing the name “Lumumba”.

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