DR Congo seal place in World Cup knockouts with comeback win over Uzbekistan

ATLANTA, June 27 : Striker Yoane Wissa netted twice as the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup knockouts after fighting their way back from a halftime deficit to win 3-1 against Uzbekistan on Saturday and set up a last-32 meeting with England.

A penalty from Wissa and an opportunist finish from substitute striker Fiston Mayele saw the Congolese turn around the score with two goals in the space of 10 second-half minutes before Wissa got his second a minute into stoppage time.

The victory ensured DR Congo finished third in Group K, behind Colombia and Portugal, and they will now stay in Atlanta and take on England on Wednesday.

It was the first World Cup win for the Congolese, returning to the tournament 52 years after a woeful debut in 1974.

The result condemned Uzbekistan to a third successive defeat at their first World Cup, which proved a disappointing outcome after they led for almost an hour of the game.

Uzbek captain Eldor Shomurodov had put his side ahead early but they sat back in the second half and paid the price as DR Congo completed a thrilling turnaround.

Uzbekistan handed the Congolese a scare inside the first 30 seconds when a long ball from the defence fell for Dostonbek Khamdamov, whose shot was blocked only for Shomurodov to net the rebound but from an offside position.

It was not long, however, before Shomurodov showed a swift turn of pace to finish off a similar move in the 10th minute and hand his side the lead.

Abbosbek Fayzullaev played a clever flick off a long pass, and Shomurodov’s pace saw him get ahead of fullback Aaron Wan-Bissaka and, from an acute angle, lob it over goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, who had come off his line and was caught out of position.

RASPING SHOT RULED OUT

Brian Cipenga’s