England prepare for Round of 32 date with DR Congo

By Ian King

DR Congo have already achieved a first by getting to the knockout stages

With one reasonably swashbuckling performance followed by two considerably more workmanlike ones, England have had a mixed start to the 2026 World Cup, but their results were good rough for them to top their group, and now they move on to face the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Round of 32.

DR Congo finished at the top of the group made up of third-placed qualifying teams, edging through to the knockout stage of the tournament with four points after drawing with Portugal, narrowly losing to Colombia and beating Uzbekistan, a win which marked their first ever win in the finals of a World Cup and their first ever progression beyond the group stage. 

England’s are unbeaten against African teams at the World Cup

England have never lost to an African nation in the World Cup finals in nine previous meetings, but they’ve failed to win on four of those occasions, with draws against Morocco in 1986, Nigeria in 2002, Algeria in 2010 and Ghana in the group stages this summer. Their five wins against African nations include knockout matches against Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2018. 

The only other time that DR Congo qualified for the World Cup finals came in 1974 as Zaire, and they were involved in the elimination of a British side that time. Beaten 9-0 by Yugoslavia, 2-0 by Scotland and 3-0 by Brazil, they were knocked out with room to spare, but Scotland’s relatively modest win against Zaire ended up costing them dear; they were eliminated on goal difference after they could only draw their final match against Yugoslavia when that huge discrepancy in goal difference meant that they needed to win. 

England missed Declan Rice against Panama

England’s relatively tepid performance against Panama coincided with the absence from their team of Declan Rice with injury. The Arsenal captain delivered the cross from which Harry Kane scored in their opening match against Croatia, and talented though Rice’s replacement for the Panama match Elliot Anderson might be, Rice’s calming influence will be extremely welcome in their midfield, presuming he returns for this match.

Yoane Wissa of Newcastle United is DR Congo’s in-form attacker, with two goals in the group stages of the competition to help his team through. These were Wissa’s first goals for his country since he scored in their 3-2 loss to Senegal in a qualifying match in September 2025. He scored twice in their final match against Uzbekistan, a 61st-minute equaliser from the penalty spot, and then a stoppage-time goal to put the seal on their 3-1 win. 

England are burning through right-backs at a rate of knots

With Declan Rice fit again, the big issue that Thomas Tuchel faces concerns the right-back position. With Reece James having got injured against Ghana, Jarell Quansah joined him on the treatment table with an ankle injury against Panama, and we can now expect Djed Spence to step in and fill that position. Fitness permitting, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford may continue on the flanks, though either or both of Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon could return. 

The DR Congo head coach Sébastien Desabre has no injury or suspension concerns ahead of this match, so their biggest change is likely to be tactical. Needing a win against Uzbekistan, they switched to a more attacking 4-4-2 formation from the 5-3-2 they’d played against Portugal and Colombia, and they may revert to this more defensive formation for this match, with Steve Kapuadi returning to the centre of their defence and Brian Cipengua making way for him.

Complacency could be England’s biggest enemy against opponents who’ve already proved themselves in this tournament

The opening rounds of matches in this mammoth round of 32 have not been kind to European teams, with both the Netherlands and Germany having already been eliminated from the competition.

Will this run continue in this match, though? While England may be unbeaten against African nations in the World Cup finals, they’ve come close to losing before, and a couple of their wins came about as a result of a bit of good luck. With nine African qualifiers in the last 32, it should be considered absurd to under-estimate CAF nations in the knock-outs, but the sort of attitudes that lead to this happening can be deeply ingrained.

This match, then, is a test of England’s professionalism. Four years ago, they came through a similar one in the round of 16 against Senegal with a comfortable 3-0 win against a team arguably superior to their opponents this time around. But the hard work they made of grinding their way to a goalless draw against Ghana in the group stages indicates that this might not be as straightforward as some of the more complacent English pundits may presume. 

With just two goals conceded in their three group matches, DR Congo proved themselves to be defensively solid against Portugal and Colombia, while their second half performance against Uzbekistan demonstrated their attacking chops, and switching formation for that final group match was proof of their tactical flexibility.

On paper this should be a comfortable win for England, but DR Congo are absolutely not to be written off, as a decent result against Portugal and a very narrow defeat to Colombia proved in the group stages. I’m going to go for Thomas Tuchel’s team to squeeze through by a 2-1 margin, but it may even take extra-time and some shredded nerves to get there. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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