Michel Kuka Mboladinga has stood motionless at DR Congo matches since 2013, recreating the pose of a statue in Kinshasa. At the 2026 World Cup, he became one of the tournament's most recognisable figures and one of its most contested. The Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico, was at full volume an hour before kickoff. Drums. Flags the size of garage doors. The particular noise that only a crowd of 46,000 does when it is wound up tight and waiting for something. DR Congo vers
