On Palace’s youth books from the age of 11, the former Good Shepherd primary pupil is now a World Cup player – but for DR Congo. Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s biggest international test yet could come this week against former club-mates
International duty: Aaron Wan-Bissaka playing in the colours of DR Congo
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, born in Croydon and brought up in New Addington, could be about to play the biggest game of his career: against England.
The former Crystal Palace youth player, now playing his club football at West Ham, is thought to have become the first player from New Addington to appear at a World Cup finals earlier this month, when he played in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 1-1 draw with Portugal in Houston.
Wan-Bissaka, 28, has played all but five minutes of DR Congo’s matches in Group K – including in the 1-0 defeat to Colombia, with the only goal of the game being scored by current Palace star Daniel Munoz.
And Wan-Bissaka was part of the Congo team which pulled off the 3-1 win over Uzbekistan on Sunday – their first ever win at the World Cup finals – which propelled them up the World Cup’s “Losers’ League” of teams that had finished in third place in their groups.
That result pits DR Congo against England in the “Round of 32” in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Wan-Bissaka plays at right-back or wing-back for club and country, a position where injuries and selection controversies have created what many see as a weakness for Thomas Tuchel’s England at the World Cup. Wan-Bissaka played for England at under-20 and under-21 level, and might have been in the mix for selection for the country of his birth had he not opted to switch to Congo 12 months ago.
Wan-Bissaka was Palace’s Player of the Season for 2018-2019, but was then transferred to Manchester United in a £50million deal – making him the most expensive uncapped English transfer at the time.
He’s now got 15 senior caps with Congo, one of nine African sides in the World Cup’s Round of 32.
“Fifa’s eligibility rules have evolved over the past two decades, making it easier for players with multiple options at international level to switch allegiance under specific conditions,” The Times reports.
Talent scouts from African football federations tour Europe seeking potential “signings” from the diaspora. DR Congo lured Yannick Bolasie to play for them when he was a Palace player.
Palace favourite: Wan-Bissaka was the Eagles’ Player of the Year before his £50m United transfer
And Wan-Bissaka became one of their targets.
With the England right-back spot seemingly uber-competitive, with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James in front of Wan-Bissaka in the pecking order, an appearance for the national senior team never materialised.
Wan-Bissaka’s one call-up from then England boss Gareth Southgate only saw him withdraw from the squad with a back injury. He was never selected again.
Congo, though, thought he could do a job for them. In 2024, Gabriel Zakuani, Congo’s scout, “went to his parents’ house to see how they felt, because from what I had heard they were quite against the idea of him playing for the DRC”.
DR Congo had only once before made the World Cup finals, in West Germany in 1974, when playing as Zaire. They lost all three group games then, including to Scotland, and were hammered 9-0 by Yugoslavia – still the joint-worst defeat in the history of World Cup finals.
Despite such a grim World Cup history, Zakuani made a persuasive case for AWB to switch allegiance. “I went there with the manager…”, Frenchman Sébastien Desabre, “… and we put our plan to them. We spoke to them about potentially getting into the World Cup, playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, and making him one of our main faces instead of him holding out to play for England and being a small fish in a big pond.”
According to The Times, it took a year from initial contact to persuade Wan-Bissaka to commit, which he did after attending a national team camp in Paris to seal the deal.
World-class: Wan-Bissaka in action in DR Congo’s World Cup group game against Portugal
It’s not all been smooth going. In April, Wan-Bissaka missed West Ham’s FA Cup quarter-final after being kept back in Kinshasa to celebrate with President Felix Tshisekedi, after DR Congo beat Jamaica to qualify for the finals for the first time in more than half a century.
But the timing of Wan-Bissaka’s debut on the biggest international stage could not be better for him. Wednesday’s game, where he’s likely to be in direct competition with his former Manchester United teammate Marcus Rashford, will be seen by every club’s scout among the European elite, as Wan-Bissaka considers a potentially big-money move from West Ham after their relegation from the Premier League.
He’s already been featured in the New York Times series Stars of the Soccer World Cup. For England’s sake, if not the lad from New Addington, most Palace fans will probably hope that Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s World Cup odyssey comes to an end on Wednesday.
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Split loyalties in New Addington on Wednesday ?!