ATLANTA (AP) — Lionel Mpasi blocked shots with his right hand, his left hand, even took one a bit below the belt.
At one point, England midfielder Jude Bellingham gave him a hug of respect with Mpasi sprawled on the World Cup turf, the ball safely in his grasp.
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England's Harry Kane (9), second from right, scores their first goal past Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) makes a save under Congo's Chancel Mbemba (22) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi blocks a shot during a World Cup round of 32 soccer match against England in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
England's Harry Kane (9), center, celebrates scoring their first goal past Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) save the ball during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
In the end, though, the Congo goalkeeper couldn't stop Harry Kane.
The England striker scored two late goals, the winner in the 86th minute, to prevent the upstart team from Africa from pulling off one of the greatest shockers in World Cup history.
England is moving on to the round of 16 after a 2-1 victory Wednesday, while Mpasi will have to console himself with one of the great defensive performances in a tournament filled with stellar play from the keepers.
“I offered my body to science,” he said through a translator, managing a wry smile. “But we knew Harry Kane is a super striker and that we had to center on him. Too bad that twice we paid a little less attention to him.”
Indeed, the Congolese couldn't hold off one of the world's most dangerous goalscorers.
Still, it didn't diminish what Mpasi and his teammates nearly pulled off.
“It is my job to help the team and make saves,” Mpasi said in French. “Happily, I was able to make some during the game. I would have loved to save the two that turned into goals.”
Already, this was a historic tournament for a country whose only other World Cup appearance came in 1974, when the nation was known as Zaire. That was a quick three-and-out, the squad failing to even score a goal in its defeats — the most embarrassing of them a 9-0 blowout by Yugoslavia.
There was nothing to be ashamed about at its second World Cup.
Much of the credit should go to the 31-year-old Mpasi, who plays club soccer in his native France but represents the country of his parent's birth internationally, a nation best known in sports circles for Muhammad Ali's “Rumble in the Jungle” upset of George Foreman in 1974.
While a round of 32 victory over England wouldn't have been as impactful as that landmark heavyweight bout, it showcased a country — and a keeper — eager to make their mark on the international scene.
“I’m just proud — proud of my country, proud of my team,” Mpasi said. “We fight until the end of the game.”
He finished with five saves, the most painful of them coming near the end of the first half when he flung his body in front of a shot by Kane off a cross at the right post — appearing to take ball somewhere between, uhh, his waist and upper thigh.
“He made some incredible saves,” Kane said. “It looked like it was going to be one of those days.”
It was reminiscent of Mpasi's performance in a group game against Colombia, when he blocked eight shots in a 1-0 setback to the South American powerhouse.
“He's been phenomenal for us all tournament, especially the game against Colombia. He really kept us in the game," Congo defender Axel Tuanzebe said. “Credit to him, the work he puts in, and just the togetherness that we have as a group. We've been together for a while now and the relationship is there and the communication is there. I just look forward to playing with him and having my back for many more games."
Mpasi, too, looks forward to using this tournament as a building block for Congo soccer.
“I am filled with pride on how we represented Congo,” he said. “We fought with all we had but unfortunately it didn't work out. Now, we will rest and then work hard to make sure we can do things like this again.”
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
England's Harry Kane (9), second from right, scores their first goal past Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) makes a save under Congo's Chancel Mbemba (22) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi blocks a shot during a World Cup round of 32 soccer match against England in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
England's Harry Kane (9), center, celebrates scoring their first goal past Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi (1) save the ball during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between England and Congo in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
MEDORA, N.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump visited North Dakota on Wednesday to see the newly built Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, a massive facility exploring the life of America's 26th president.
Saturday's official opening of the library coincides with July 4th celebrations honoring the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Trump came early to see the $450 million project, a boost for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a former governor of North Dakota, while also bringing the nation's birthday festivities to a region synonymous with its westward expansion. The 96,000-square-foot library is in the rugged, lonely landscape where Roosevelt built his conservation values while ranching and hunting in the 1880s.
In an address after touring the library, Trump compared himself favorably to Roosevelt and said the 26th president “embodied the heart and soul and fight and spirit of our country, as much as anyone who ever lived.”
Trump recounted episodes from Roosevelt's life, praising his bravery and toughness as an outdoorsman and politician.
“He had a freakin’ wild life,” Trump told the audience at a Western-themed amphitheater. “He didn’t want to be quiet. He wanted to be great.”
The Republican president made the trip aboard his new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 given to the United States by Qatar. Trump said he asked Boeing, which is set to deliver new planes for the president's service in 2028, whether there were any countries with potential substitutes in the interim.
“I said, ‘Who has the best one?’ They said, ‘Qatar,” Trump said, adding that he was assured, "'There’s never been a plane like it.'”
All living presidents were invited to the grand opening of the library, which joins more than a dozen throughout the country examining the lives and legacies of U.S. presidents from Ronald Reagan in California to Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York and Herbert Hoover in Iowa. The Obama Presidential Center recently opened in Chicago, bringing together four former presidents for the occasion.
Trump was the library’s first official visitor, according to the library's executive director, Robbie Lauf.
Trump said his administration was giving $750,000 to support the library’s first year.
On Friday, the president plans to visit South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore for Independence Day fireworks, as he did in 2020.
Trump has often described an affinity with Roosevelt. Trump began his second term last year by trumpeting the construction of the Panama Canal during the Roosevelt administration.
Trump even said the U.S. might seek to take back the waterway from Panama to curb influence from China. That goal has been overshadowed by his suggestions that Washington might seize control of Greenland or that Canada could become America's 51st state.
Given a chance to talk with an artificial-intelligence version of Roosevelt at the library, Trump asked if the 26th president considered the Panama Canal his greatest achievement. A digital Roosevelt said he took pride in it while also listing achievements involving parks, medicine and his Square Deal.
In the run-up to staging a UFC fight on the White House lawn for his 80th birthday, Trump said he was aware of Roosevelt holding far lower-key boxing matches in the White House. Trump made no mention of Roosevelt having detached the retina of his left eye during one such sparring session.
The trip also underscores the president's esteem for Burgum, who has become a key face of and cheerleader for the president’s expansive renovation projects around Washington.
Roosevelt visited Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. On Valentine's Day the next year, his mother and wife died hours apart in the same house in New York.
Devastated, Roosevelt came to Dakota where he ranched cattle and hunted big game in the West during visits mostly from 1884 to 1887.
He underwent deep personal growth from his experiences, including chasing boat thieves down a river, standing up to a bully in a bar and working alongside cowboys who ridiculed him for wearing eyeglasses.
Roosevelt, who served as president from 1901 to 1909, later said he never would have been president were it not for his experiences in North Dakota.
Near the library is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Visitors can hike trails and drive a scenic route through the colorful, rugged Badlands where bison and wild horses roam.
In 2019, Burgum championed the library to North Dakota's Republican-led legislature when he was governor, touting its tourism potential. The legislature approved a $50 million operations endowment, requiring library planners to raise $100 million in private donations, a goal met in 2020. Donations total about $354 million as of early 2026.
Donors include oil executive Harold Hamm, the Waltons of Walmart fame, Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, a hedge fund, and Burgum himself.
Visitors will learn about Roosevelt's conservation ideas and his Rough Riders regiment of the Spanish-American War, but also his “horrific comments” about Native Americans and other issues “that have obviously aged poorly,” Lauf said.
Artifacts, many of them out of public view for decades, will tell Roosevelt's story. Visitors will see his Rough Riders uniform; the 1884 diary grieving his terrible loss; and the eyeglasses case, speech and shirt from the 1912 assassination attempt against him.
Organizers hope the library draws families and thousands of school children from the region, as well as some of the millions of motorists who travel to Yellowstone National Park and the Black Hills.
“It's a feature, not a bug, that we are in a county of 1,000 people and a town of 120,” Lauf said. “TR came here for that purpose.”
The Dakota Resource Council on Tuesday hosted several conservation leaders who criticized Burgum and Trump for policies they say contradict Roosevelt's conservation principles, such as cutting staff and budgets and prioritizing energy development on public lands.
Last year, Burgum signed an order prioritizing the openness and accessibility of parks to the public amid the workforce cuts. He has compared America's public lands and natural resources to “assets” that should be responsibly developed to exert “energy dominance.”
Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at Burning Hills Amphitheatre during the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening ceremony, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks at the Burning Hills Amphitheater during the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening ceremony Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Exhibits are seen as President Donald Trump tours the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump arrives on the Freedom 250 train, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., for the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt President Library. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump tours the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, right, and Robbie Lauf, executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Roughrider reenactors wait for President Donald Trump's arrival at the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump arrives on the Freedom 250 train, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., for the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt President Library. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump greets people after arriving on the Freedom 250 train, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., for an opening ceremony at the Theodore Roosevelt President Library. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump arrives on the Freedom 250 train, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., for the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt President Library. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump walks up the stairs of the newly designated Air Force One, a formerly Qatari-owned jumbo jet that has been converted into the official U.S. presidential aircraft, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, July 1, 2026, to attend the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, N.D. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)(AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump, from right, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum tour the East Potomac Park golf course, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump speaks before signing a presidential memo to the EPA on pollution control in vehicles, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
