Thomas Tuchel’s England face DR Congo in a Round of 16 tie at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
England qualified for this match as Group L winners, whilst DR Congo finished as the best third-placed team after they finished third in Group K.
Team News
Jarell Quansah is a doubt for England after he suffered an ankle injury during their 2-0 victory over Panama.
Reece James is also doubtful after he missed that match due to a hamstring injury.
DR Congo have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 3-1 comeback victory over Uzbekistan.
When is Kick-Off?
England meet DR Congo at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta at 12pm EDT (5pm BST) on Wednesday 1 July, live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is England’s first-ever meeting against DR Congo in all competitions.
- DR Congo are yet to beat an European team in all competitions (D4, L1).
- Five of England’s group-stage goals were scored by Harry Kane (3) and Jude Bellingham (2).
- Three of DR Congo’s four goals in the group stage were scored by Yoane Wissa.
Prediction
Having stuttered past Panama with another lacklustre performance, England now need to crank up their gears because this hasn’t been great performance wise on top of Tuchel’s idiotic decision to call up a centre-back replacement after full-back, Tino Livramento had pulled out.
DR Congo meanwhile showed more attacking quality against Uzbekistan after having adopted a low defensive block approach in their first two matches, but I expect them to revert back to to their more defensive tactics because this is a game where they’re not likely to see much of the ball.
England though should have the quality to edge this tie given DR Congo’s record against European opposition, but I fancy this to be more of a grinder than it ought to be realistically.
Prediction: England 1-0 DR Congo
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