Portugal begin their World Cup 2026 campaign against DR Congo on Wednesday night in Houston.

Cristiano Ronaldo competes in a sixth consecutive World Cup, and the Portuguese skipper will be targeting a historic triumph in the only major competition he has not won.

Having qualified from a group with Hungary and the Republic of Ireland, Portugal will be the favourites to top a group which includes Uzbekistan and Colombia.

As for DR Congo, it is their first appearance on the World Cup stage in 52 years, when they competed as Zaire. They qualified via a 1-0 win over Jamaica in an intercontinental playoff in March.

Here’s everything you need to know about this World Cup 2026 game:

When is Portugal vs DR Congo?

Portugal face DR Congo at 6pm BST on Wednesday 17 June (12pm CT) at the NRG Stadium in Houston.

How can I watch it?

Viewers in the UK can watch the match free-to-air on BBC 1, BBCiPlayer and the BBC Sport website, with coverage starting at 5:30pm BST.

Team news

Ronaldo was sent off in his last competitive match for Portugal but had the last two games of a three-match ban suspended by Fifa. Portugal have a fully-fit squad, including the PSG trio of Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves and Vitinha.

For DR Congo, they have no injury concerns and have a number of notable names, including Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe and Yoane Wissa.

Predicted line-ups

Portugal XI: D Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Inacio, Mendes; J Neves, Fernandes, Vitinha; Bernardo, Ronaldo, Neto

DR Congo XI: Mpasi; Wan-Bissaka, Kapuadi, Tuanzebe, Mbemba, Masuaku; Moutoussamy, Sadiki, Mukau; Wissa, Bakambu

Latest odds

Portugal – 1/3

Draw – 5/1

DR Congo – 11/1

WWE presented an action-packed edition of NXT tonight. The show ended in chaos and featured an appearance from a star who bid goodbye to fans last Tuesday.

The main event of this week’s WWE NXT saw Women’s Champion Lola Vice and Kendal Grey join forces to take on Women’s North American Champion Zaria and Kelani Jordan in a tag team match. The two sides delivered a back-and-forth showdown before taking the action to ringside. Zaria attempted an F5 on the floor to Vice before Tatum Paxley surprisingly showed up.

The former NXT Women’s North American Champion was in the audience, distracting the Australian powerhouse. Paxley’s unexpected appearance caught Zaria off guard. Lola Vice capitalized on the opening and hit a spinning back fist on the face-painted star. In the end, Vice pinned Zaria to secure the win for her team.

Last week, Tatum Paxley lost her NXT Women’s North American Championship to Zaria. After the match, Paxley was visibly emotional and bid goodbye to WWE fans at ringside. Many believed she was main roster-bound. However, it seems like her NXT feud with Zaria is not over yet.

Following the tag team main event of tonight’s WWE NXT, Paxley launched an attack on Zaria. Kelani Jordan attempted to steal the NXT Women’s Championship amid the chaos. However, Grey inadvertently took out Vice with the title amid the brawl.

Despite emerging victorious in the tag team contest, the night didn’t end well for Lola Vice and Kendal Grey. The show concluded with Grey trying to explain that she accidentally took out the NXT Women’s Champion. Vice and Grey will now square off for the prestigious title at The Great American Bash on June 28, 2026.

The promotional poster for The Great American Bash features Tatum Paxley. However, she doesn’t have a match on the show as of this writing. Given her latest attack on Zaria, it seems like the Triple H-led creative team is planning to book a rematch between the two at the premium live event.