DR Congo manager Desabre learns of father's death at post-match press conference after England defeat

Sebastien Desabre learned of his father’s death in front of the world’s media at the end of his post-match press conference, moments after DR Congo were eliminated from the 2026 World Cup by England in a 2-1 round-of-32 defeat at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta.

The DR Congo communications manager delivered the news at the close of the session, saying: “Thank you. However, we are informing you that the coach has lost his father; our sincere condolences.” Desabre, who had been fielding questions from reporters, paused, replied “Merci”, and left the room. Video footage of the moment spread widely online. It remains unclear whether Desabre had already been told of his father’s passing before the announcement was made publicly.

The 49-year-old French coach had guided DR Congo to their first World Cup since 1974 — when the nation competed as Zaire — and had already steered them through the group stage in third place, including a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan. Their place in North America was secured via the intercontinental play-offs against Jamaica.

Against England, DR Congo led through Brian Cipenga’s first-half strike and were denied further by the woodwork when Newcastle striker Yoane Wissa struck the post. Harry Kane scored twice to overturn the deficit and send England through, despite the efforts of goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi.

Desabre was measured in defeat, saying: “We’re disappointed because we believed we could do it. Perhaps we lacked a bit of experience at the end, but that’s football. We learn, we continue to improve, and we move forward calmly. We fought like the Congolese people. We played good football today against one of the best teams in the world. That’s what we’ll remember.”

Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe echoed that sense of a missed opportunity. “Ultimately we’re kicking ourselves more so because we felt we should’ve definitely held out the game,” he said. “Probably should’ve finished it in the first half as well, but it was unfortunate it was not meant to be for us today, but we’ll look on this and think how we can build for future tournaments.”