Excitement over the surprise World Cup draw with Portugal has allowed the Democratic Republic of the Congo a brief pause from worrying about the spread of the Ebola virus.
The information ministry did not publish the daily Ebola figures on the evening of Wednesday's 1-1 draw against the tournament contenders led by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Our Leopards are opening a new chapter in the history of Congolese football and are carrying with them the dreams of more than 100 million Congolese," the ministry had said.
The team are nicknamed the Leopards and a government spokesman even appeared wearing a leopard print shirt ahead of the game.
After the deserved draw in their first men's World Cup appearance in 52 years, celebrations filled the streets of the capital Kinshasa.
"People bought beer and other alcoholic drinks as if we had won the World Cup," said Patrick Mwisi, a fan from Kinshasa. Cars sped through the streets honking and fans danced.
There were also celebrations in regions where people normally have little reason to cheer such as in the Kivu provinces, where government troops and militias have been fighting each other for years.
In Ituri, the centre of the Ebola outbreak, there were big parties after Yoane Wissa's equalizer and at full-time.
"We all screamed at the top of our lungs until the final whistle," said a fan watching at the town hall in Bunia, the capital of Ituri.
Before travelling to North America for the World Cup, the squad had to stay outside the country for a 21-day quarantine period because of Ebola.
