Overview
- Wissa scored the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first-ever World Cup goal to equalise 1-1 with Portugal in Houston on Thursday, giving his team an unexpected point in their 2026 opener.
- In July 2021 a woman entered Wissa’s home and threw acid at him while trying to seize his newborn, causing severe burns to his eyes that required surgery and months to regain full vision.
- The attacker fled but repeated a similar assault the next day, abducting another newborn who was later recovered, and was later tried and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
- Wissa rebuilt his career after the attack, progressing from Lorient to Brentford and then Newcastle where he became a Premier League regular and made his Champions League debut.
- The goal has personal and national weight because Wissa still uses ongoing eye treatment and psychological care, and it revives pride for a country that last played at the World Cup in 1974 while raising expectations for DR Congo’s run in the tournament.