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Yoane Wissa scored as DR Congo began their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mauritania.
The Brentford forward slotted in from 10 yards to put the Leopards ahead in the 62nd minute and Theo Bongonda rounded off a counter-attack with nine minutes remaining to seal a valuable win in the Group B opener in Kinshasa.
DR Congo have not played at the World Cup finals since 1974, when the country participated as Zaire, and have been drawn alongside continental champions Senegal.
The nine group winners in African qualification will qualify automatically for the expanded 48-team tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Equatorial Guinea beat Namibia 1-0 in Group H earlier on Wednesday courtesy of a second-half goal from former Middlesbrough and Birmingham City man Emilio Nsue, while Zimbabwe, on their return to competitive internationals, drew 0-0 with Rwanda in Group C.
The Warriors featured at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations but were excluded from qualifiers for the 2023 tournament after Fifa imposed a ban following government interference in the running of the game.
That suspension, imposed in February last year, was lifted in July.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone drew their opening Group A fixture 0-0 in a match interrupted by fog in the Moroccan coastal city of El Jadida.
The match was moved from Ethiopia because they do not have an international-standard venue.
