Zero Shots on Target. Forty Years of History. Congo’s Stunner, 2026
Zero shots on target. That is what Cristiano Ronaldo managed across three separate attempts on goal in a match where his expected goals total reached 0.46. Portugal drew 1-1 with Congo DR at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 17, 2026, in their World Cup Group K opener, and the result will be remembered as one of the tournament’s great shocks. The number above explains exactly why Ronaldo walked off shaking his head in disgust.
Here is the direct answer first. Joao Neves headed Portugal ahead in the sixth minute, finishing a Pedro Neto cross. Congo DR, playing their first World Cup match in 52 years, leveled it in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time when Yoane Wissa headed home an Arthur Masuaku cross from a corner, the country’s first ever World Cup goal. Neither side found a winner across the remaining hour plus stoppage time, and the match finished 1-1, a result that drew gasps given the gulf in reputation between the two sides.
Make no mistake, the second half belonged to Congo DR more than it belonged to Portugal.
Congo DR actually out-performed Portugal in xG across the full match, 0.87 to 0.65, a genuine contradiction of the pre-match form lines. Wissa’s headed equalizer alone carried 0.39 xG and an extraordinary 0.81 xGOT, a strong finish on a real chance rather than a fortunate bounce. Steve Kapuadi’s headed effort in the 63rd minute carried 0.19 xG from eight yards and sailed just wide, while Cedric Bakambu rattled the post in the second half before firing over moments later from a cutback, two more genuine opportunities that nearly turned a shock draw into a historic win.
Possession sat overwhelmingly with Portugal, 75 percent to Congo DR’s 25, a gap that makes the underlying xG numbers even more striking.
What Portugal did with that possession produced volume without precision. They completed 724 passes at 92 percent accuracy against Congo DR’s 195 at 78, and touches inside the box reached 29 for Portugal compared to just 10 for Congo DR. Yet shots on target told a damning story for the favorites, just one for Portugal across the entire match against two for Congo DR, despite Portugal registering seven shots in total to Congo DR’s eight.
Truth is, Ronaldo’s afternoon summarized Portugal’s frustration better than any team statistic could. He missed two clear chances in the 68th and 74th minutes, both worth a combined 0.42 xG, both pulled just wide of the target with the goalkeeper beaten. Bruno Fernandes added a late effort in the 90th minute that drifted just past the post, another near miss in a match full of them for the home favorites.
Fouls and cards revealed a contest that grew increasingly tense as Portugal searched for a winner that never arrived. Portugal committed nine fouls to Congo DR’s ten, but picked up three yellow cards to Congo DR’s solitary caution, including two bookings in the final three minutes alone, Nelson Semedo in the 88th minute and Tomas Araujo in stoppage time, both for fouls born of growing desperation against a side refusing to sit back and defend a point.
One individual stat sits above every other number from this match. Lionel Mpasi, Congo DR’s goalkeeper, faced eight shots, conceded just one goal worth 0.65 xG, and finished with a goals prevented figure of minus 0.47, a modest defensive output that still represented more than enough given how rarely Portugal actually tested him directly.
So here is the open question Group K now carries forward. Congo DR generated more expected goals than Portugal, missed several genuine chances to win outright, and still walk away with only a single point from a performance that suggested they could have taken all three. If this is the level Congo DR can produce against a side featuring Ronaldo in his sixth World Cup, what does the rest of this group, now blown wide open, actually look like heading into the second round of matches.