The Leopard Of Épinay-sous-Sénart

"He's been trying, he's been really wanting to make a difference. There have been physical things stopping him from doing that. No injury, just time on the pitch, he needs training to get his body up to full speed. The best is yet to come."

Eddie Howe on Yoane Wissa, April 19

Yoane Wissa celebrates in Atlanta as his two goals sent his Leopards into the Round of 32. (photo: Sofia Cupertino for the SDH Network)

Newcastle striker Yoane Wissa scored only three goals for the Magpies in all competitions during the 2025/26 season, and only one of those came in Premier League play. The Public Investment Fund in charge of the club faced a firm £55 million asking price in the summer of 2025 and, having missed out on a handful of targets to replace Callum Wilson, paid Brentford's number.

The late pickup in the summer window, coming directly on the heels of Alexander Isak's departure to Liverpool, meant Wissa was behind in learning a new system. He also picked up a knee injury before his first official training session, setting him back even further. Wissa returned from rehab early but declined a call to the national team to focus on his new professional club, and to be ready for DR Congo's qualification attempt for the World Cup in late March.

He turned to his personal Instagram account to give profound thanks on April 1, once Les Léopards' path had unlocked a door to the international stage for the first time in 52 years:

Thank you my brothers, my soldiers without rank!

We know where we come from and we stayed humble in defeat like in this magnificent victory.

Yesterday I cried tears of joy because of hardships in my life I've endured and

Today is also a personal consecration.

Thanks to little Yoane Wissa who suffered injustices, insults, rejections, but who has always had love, (and) never gave up

Reports would surface a few weeks later that Wissa could be put up for sale, at a massive loss for Newcastle, as the club looked to overhaul its attack for the 2026/27 season. All the while, DR Congo was arriving on this side of the Atlantic within months, ending a wait longer than almost any nation in World Cup history. They would compete in Group K alongside Colombia, Portugal, and Uzbekistan.

The defense under head coach Sébastien Desabre wasn't the issue through the first two matches, highlighted by a draw against Portugal on Matchday 1. But the offense needed to get untracked if there was going to be any chance at reaching the knockout rounds.

DR Congo made history Saturday in Atlanta. (photo: Sofia Cupertino for the SDH Network)

Yoane Wissa would be that focal point at Atlanta Stadium, winning the penalty for the equalizer in the second half and adding the goal at 90+1 that sent the Congolese faithful into a deafening chorus of cheers and sent the team he leads into a midweek match against England. In the 16 days of the group stage, he equaled his entire Newcastle goal total for the season.

"I try to take this weight on my shoulders because I put a lot of weight on my shoulders to free up my teammates," Wissa admitted after his Man of the Match performance against Uzbekistan. "I embrace this leadership role because today I am one and I am proud to be the leader of Congo.

"I don't take on this role to show off. I take on this role to improve the team, to improve the players around me. Since the beginning of my 'campaign,' in quotation marks, since I've been with the National Team, that's what I've been trying to do."

Wissa has been the first to admit that the injury was tough, the summer was tough, and that he didn't show his best face at Newcastle last season. But he knew his time would come. That time arrived as a pest, a shadow, and a hammer against Uzbekistan on Saturday night. He had 7 of his 40 touches inside the opponent's 18-yard box, took 6 shots, completed 89 percent of his passes, won three duels, drew three fouls in the attack, and added a few defensive recoveries along the way.

"I just showed to everyone now, I'm in a good place," Wissa continued. "I'm good physically. I'm good mentally. So that's why I'm proud today to show that I'm a good player. You know, I know to play football. And especially when I'm good physically, my head is calm, and the rest follows, you know?"

Yoane Wissa persevered. DR Congo persevered. And it wasn't the first time for either.

In 1974, DR Congo was known as the African nation of Zaire. They lost all three group stage matches the last time they were on the World Cup stage, opening with a respectable two nil loss to Scotland.

Mobutu, the nation's president at the time, sent an oversized delegation, players and hangers on alike, to West Germany with a sizable fund meant to cover the squad's wages and bonuses. It never reached them. According to Sky History's account of the tournament, the officials traveling with the team drained the fund before the players ever saw a share of it. Discovering they wouldn't be paid, the squad reportedly threatened to sit out the second match against Yugoslavia, and FIFA is said to have stepped in with a per player payment just to get them on the field. Zaire lost that match 9 nil, still one of the heaviest defeats in World Cup history.

Embarrassed, Mobutu threatened his players with exile if they lost to world champion Brazil by more than three goals in the group finale. Down two goals in the second half with a Brazilian free kick looming, Mwepu Ilunga broke from the wall and smashed the ball as far away as he could. He picked up a yellow card for the effort, but he also remembered what had been said back at the team hotel. The match ended in a three nil loss, and Mobutu cut funding to a program he now considered an international laughingstock.

That is the case no more.

There is a Lingala proverb, "Batongaka Ndako Na Mokolo Moko Te," which translates simply to "you can't build a house in a day."

Pair that with "Butu Atako Ewuneli Suka Tongo Eko Tana," another way of saying "no matter how long the night is, morning will always come."

Wissa will be vital against England as the primary source of attacking threat. (photo: Sofia Cupertino for the SDH Network)

The sun has risen in the east for DR Congo football. Under Sébastien Desabre as head coach, Les Léopards have made it to the AFCON twice in a row, including the semifinals in 2023, eventually finishing fourth. As for his captain, Wissa progressed from a childhood spent idolizing Thierry Henry and Didier Drogba (though he actually started his own youth career in goal) to having his mother step in and tell his coach he needed to play farther forward.

He worked his way up from Châteauroux, the same academy that produced Jean-Philippe Mateta, through Angers and loan spells at Laval and Ajaccio, playing the role of a versatile target man at every stop before he settled in at Lorient. Once again, Wissa persevered. DR Congo persevered.

From there, Wissa moved to Brentford and now Newcastle. All the while, he has been a key piece in building this DR Congo group, understanding both what happens on the field in Kinshasa and the patience it takes to see the sunrise. He motivates. He smiles in difficult moments. He makes the younger players know he's there when needed.

He also understands that the Congolese diaspora isn't confined to one place on the globe, something evidenced by the sheer numbers who filled Atlanta Stadium that Saturday night. He knows they are invested, in every sense, in the national team.

"We are a proud, proud country. We are proud people," he says. "We love our country. We love our national team. We love what we represent.

"I think tonight we just showed that what it means for us is just to fight, no matter what. And you know, it's not easy in our country, you know? It's a war in East Congo. And every day, every time we wear this shirt, we think about them.

"So that's why tonight, what we show is just to say that, guys, no matter what, we need to keep going. Because we want peace, you know? And for the fans, I just say, you know, thank you.

"Thank you because we come from far, you know? We came from far, from nothing to be here. You know, now we write our story with black pen, and we need to be proud."

Wissa understands, more than most, that time is earned and that resilience leads to success. Reaching the knockout rounds of the World Cup is the next piece added to the foundation of a football program building toward something bigger.

But for Les Léopards, the Three Lions are next, when England travels to the Southeast for a midweek meeting. DR Congo and Wissa are set to persevere once more, in an appointment with history.

"There is a long road ahead of us," Wissa said, knowing that road is filled with pit stops and challenges along the way. "There is a big beast waiting for us. Lions are waiting for us. But, as leopards, we know how to react."