Yoane Wissa’s nightmare season has given way to dream World Cup. Next up, England – The Athletic
The past 12 months have not gone according to plan for Yoane Wissa but now he is preparing for the biggest moment of his career. The 29-year-old is set to lead the line for the Democratic Republic of Congo when they face England in the round of 32 at the World Cup today.
This is only the second time DR Congo have qualified for a World Cup. They competed in 1974 under the name Zaire but lost all three of their games. Wissa has become the African nation’s hero over the past two weeks. He has scored three times during this tournament, as many as he managed in 28 appearances for Newcastle United last season, including the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Portugal.
When DR Congo were struggling to break Uzbekistan down in their final group game, which they needed to win to progress, Wissa earned and converted a penalty to draw them level. Fiston Mayele gave DR Congo the lead before Wissa’s long-range strike in stoppage time sealed a famous victory. Afterwards, he paid a touching tribute to their fans.
“It’s not easy in our country,” he told reporters. “There’s a war in East Congo. Every day, every time we wear this shirt, we think about them. 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 and for them, I just say ‘thank you’. Thank you because we came from far. We came from nothing to be here. Now we write our story with a black pen and we need to be proud.”
Wissa celebrates beating Uzbekistan (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Wissa’s status as one of his country’s most important players is the opposite to his situation at Newcastle. Wissa joined Eddie Howe’s side from Brentford on the final day of last summer’s transfer window for £55million. He only scored once in 19 league games and played just 519 minutes in total.
Wissa struggled with a knee injury but even when he returned to full fitness, Howe preferred to use Anthony Gordon, a left winger, or 22-year-old Will Osula as the central striker instead of him. In April, The Athletic reported that Newcastle will explore selling Wissa this summer. Market conditions may now dictate he will stay, with the hope he will show far more in his second season at St James’ Park.
Paraguay’s shock victory over Germany will be a reminder for England to not take DR Congo lightly. Wissa will relish the opportunity to remind everybody of his quality and draw a line under an eventful year. On the England bench will be his former Brentford team-mate Ivan Toney, who has indirectly impacted what happened over the past year.
Wissa’s path to the top has not been without difficulty. In July 2021, he was the victim of an acid attack and underwent emergency eye surgery but made a full recovery.
He signed for Brentford from French side Lorient in the August and quickly became a fan-favourite for the west London side. He started only 28 out of a possible 76 top-flight games in his first two seasons but after Toney received an eight-month ban in May 2023 for admitting to 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules, Wissa started regularly and flourished.
Wissa had expressed a desire to leave in the summer of 2024 but the club would not consider selling him in the same window as Toney, who joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli. Wissa responded by producing the best season of his career. In the January, Brentford rejected a £22m bid from Nottingham Forest and an enquiry from Tottenham Hotspur.
At the beginning of last summer, Brentford told Wissa that they did not want to sell him in the same window as Bryan Mbeumo, who eventually joined Manchester United, unless they could find a suitable replacement.
Wissa felt frustrated after being denied a move the previous year because of Toney’s move to Saudi Arabia. He travelled on Brentford’s pre-season tour to Portugal but withdrew after a couple of days.
Wissa was left out of the first three games of the season, at which point Newcastle emerged as his only viable exit route.
Wissa on signing for Newcastle. He was soon injured. (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Newcastle had considered or tried to sign Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Benjamin Sesko before focussing on Wissa. Alexander Isak’s toxic transfer to Liverpool left them in dire need of reinforcements but Wissa was viewed as a replacement for Callum Wilson not Isak.
Wissa said he was desperate to play for Newcastle and wear the iconic No 9 shirt, though he had called his former manager Thomas Frank who had taken over as Spurs coach.
Frank made it clear he would only push to sign Wissa if Richarlison or Dominic Solanke left. After Solanke suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury, which eventually ruled him out for five months, Spurs signed Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain on the same day Wissa eventually joined Newcastle.
Wissa’s departure became deeply acrimonious.
Without a quality replacement, Brentford told Newcastle before the window closed that as a result it would take a significant offer for them to consider selling. Wissa released a statement on social media and claimed that during conversations with Brentford’s senior figures “it was confirmed to me and my representatives that the club would not stand in my way if a reasonable offer was received.” Wissa added it was put in writing.
“Yet as the window comes to an end, the club has now significantly changed its position, going against what was communicated,” he said. “This has left me in a difficult and frustrating position. The commitment that I could leave this summer has not been fulfilled. It saddens me to have to write that, and I maintain total respect for the club and its fans.”
Multiple club sources The Athletic spoke to at the time denied Brentford made any agreement, verbally or in writing, to allow Wissa to leave.
Newcastle submitted an offer of £55m, more than double their original bid of £25m earlier in the window, which Brentford accepted. Even still, the move nearly broke down because paperwork had not been signed and it was a rush to get it through.
Even that wasn’t the end of Wissa’s troubles.
He went on international duty immediately after completing the move and suffered a serious knee injury in a World Cup qualifier against Senegal. He had not even trained yet with Newcastle.
Wissa spent three months on the sidelines and did not make his debut until a 2-1 victory over Burnley in December. It meant he missed DR Congo’s dramatic victories over Cameroon and Nigeria in November’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) World Cup play-offs.
Wissa reacts after missing a chance for Newcastle (Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)
Wissa decided to skip the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which took place in Morocco between December and January, to improve his fitness and establish himself at Newcastle. In an interview with JoelBeyaTV in April, he admitted that he “didn’t wait the proper time” before returning from injury and “it should definitely have been” a long rehabilitation time.
Even after returning, a starring role at this summer’s World Cup looked improbable. Wissa only started one of Newcastle’s last 22 games in all competitions. The striker’s last goal for his club came in a 3-0 win against PSV on January 21. The only respite in the second half of the season was helping DR Congo qualify for the World Cup as he started in their 1-0 extra-time victory against Jamaica in March’s intercontinental play-off.
Wissa has looked so much sharper at the World Cup.
“It’s been a tough injury,” Wissa said after the win over Uzbekistan, as reported by ESPN. “I didn’t show my best face at Newcastle but I knew that my time will come and this time is now.
“I just show everyone now I’m in a good place, I’m good physically, I’m good mentally, so that’s why I’m proud to show that I’m a good player.
“I know how to play football and especially when I’m good physically my head is calm, and the rest follows.”
Wissa is a popular member of the squad and is seen as one of its leaders.
“He is getting back to best level,” said DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre on the eve of the game against England. “What he brings on the training ground, his energy, his ability to move, yes he’s back at his highest level. He’s been very significant to us.”
Strangely, Wissa never started alongside Germany international and fellow summer signing Nick Woltemade at Newcastle but for DR Congo he plays in a strike partnership with Cedric Bakambu.
Wissa effectively plays as a nine-and-a-half, stretching opposition defences with his intelligent runs into space to drag his team forward. He can score a variety of goals, which will make him difficult for Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa and John Stones to contain.
After a challenging year, Wissa has recaptured his best form at the worst possible time for England.
“It’s true we are the challengers, the underdogs but that’s normal,” said Desabre on Tuesday. “Each time we’ve managed to clear the obstacles.”
Wissa will hope to clear one more in Atlanta today.
