US to let DR Congo football team in for World Cup despite Ebola restrictions

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Published 5/19/2026, 10:08:47 PM · Updated 5/21/2026, 1:18:15 PMBy TheBriefWire Editorial Team

US to let DR Congo football team in for World Cup despite Ebola restrictions

Key points

  • The US has banned non-Americans who have visited DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days from entry.
  • The United States will ensure that the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) football team can enter the country to play in the World Cup, making an exemption to an Ebola-related entry ban, according to a senior Department of State official.
  • “We expect the DRC team to be able to attend the World Cup,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
  • The US has banned non-Americans who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from visiting the country due to a deadly outbreak of Ebola.
  • The US official said the DRC team, the only one among the three countries to have qualified for football’s premier event, had already been training in Europe, so they may not have been subject to the ban...

Published May 19, 2026.


📌 Source: Al Jazeera

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