Portugal, Congo DR ends in draw at Houston Stadium

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reminding people of the dangers of counterfeit items after the department said it seized more than $6M in fake World Cup merch.

In total, the CBP said it seized about 12,000 Adidas soccer jerseys, 4,500 Adidas FIFA soccer balls, nearly 4,400 pairs of athletic shoes, 69 FIFA packages with more than 2,200 fake Apple watches and earbuds with the FIFA trademark logo, and an array of toys and perfumes.

Authorities said most shipments originated from China and were going to locations within and outside the U.S.

DR Congo produced another stunning result at the 2026 World Cup as the African side won their first-ever point in the tournament by holding one of the pre-tournament favorites, Portugal, to a 1-1 draw in Houston on Wednesday.

Yoane Wissa struck Congo's first goal at a World Cup deep into first-half stoppage time to cancel out an early opening goal from Portugal's João Neves in the sixth minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Lionel Messi as the only men to play in six World Cups and, aged 41 years and 132 days, he became the oldest outfield player to start a World Cup match. But the forward cut a frustrated figure in attack.

Congo are appearing in just their second World Cup and first since 1974, when they competed as Zaire and lost all three games without scoring.

ABC13 had a crew outside Houston Stadium where hundreds of fans walked out after a game between DR Congo and Portugal.

With a few hours before kickoff for Wednesday's World Cup game of Portugal against DR Congo, TranStar cameras show a heavy inflow of traffic.

Cameras off I-610 South Loop at Kirby show the traffic backing up along the service road as fans try to make their way into the stadium's parking lot.

Both teams arrived in Space City on a rainy Tuesday, with many fans in attendance to greet them.

Lionel Messi used the front of his white-and-blue, sweat-soaked jersey to wipe the tears from his eyes, a flood of emotions cracking his usually calm, confident demeanor after he gave Argentina an early lead in its World Cup opener against Algeria.

Then he scored again. And again.

Suddenly, any questions about Messi's hamstring injury, or whether he could help Argentina become the third team to win consecutive World Cups - even as his 39th birthday approaches next week - had been answered. With a brilliant hat trick in a 3-0 win over Les Fennecs, Messi moved into a tie with Germany's Miroslav Klose for the career scoring record at the men's World Cup.

"My tears after the first goal? I've had some tough days. It wasn't related to football. And those feelings were because of that," Messi said afterward, without elaborating. "I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me."

Messi scored that emotional first goal in the opening minutes on a nifty feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the second off an opportunistic rebound early in the second half, and the third on a crisp strike moments before subbing out to a standing ovation from a crowd of 69,045 tilted heavily toward the three-time World Cup champions.

"At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say?" Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. "He's incredible."