England head coach Thomas Tuchel believes DR Congo are incredibly dangerous and ready to do anything to make our lives miserable in his first knockout match in international football in the last 32 of the World Cup 2026 on Wednesday. Tuchel expects the Leopards, who drew with Portugal, lost to Colombia and beat Uzbekistan during the group stage, to be pretty much a copy of Ghana, who held his side to a 0-0 draw, and Panama, who were level until the 61st minute of Englands 2-0 win over them on matchday three.There is no percent of over-confidence for this game, said Tuchel, making a promise that the result will not be a draw.Of course we are nervous and of course we feel the pressure.Table of ContentsWorld Cup 2026: DR Congo ready to do anything vs EnglandEngland vs DR Congo: World Cup pressure on Three LionsDR Congo: Desabre on World Cup 2026 pathEngland vs DR Congo: Pickford praises WissaWhere to watch England v DR Congo: TV channel, live online streamsWorld Cup 2026: England v DR Congo statsWorld Cup 2026: DR Congo ready to do anything vs EnglandEngland impressed in their 4-2 win over Croatia but struggled to break their opponents down in their subsequent two matches.Its not glamorous, Tuchel warned ITV, suggesting that more thrills may not be in store in Atlanta and describing DR Congo as physical and proud to defend.They will defend as a unit and they are ready to do anything to make our lives miserable on the football pitch. This is not the glamorous part of the tournament. You need to get the results and the wins.England vs DR Congo: World Cup pressure on Three LionsDR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre, whose side advanced by coming from behind to beat Uzbekistan 3-1 with three second-half goals, said the pressure is on England because of their ambitions.We see this as a very beautiful opportunity to create another feat rather than simply coming to discover the [knockout stage], added the former Uganda manager, who guided his current team to fourth at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.In relation to the history of our country, in relation to the number of people who live through football whether in our country or, particularly, in African countries my players carry a lot of hope on their shoulders.These are boys who do not leave people indifferent by their self-sacrifice and by their resistance to pressure, because you need it when you play for the national team of the Congo.Theyve shown it since the beginning of the qualifiers. Whether its the emotions or the pressure of a match, the players have this capacity to be able to rise above that and to put in another performance by being fully focused.DR Congo: Desabre on World Cup 2026 pathUnder Desabre, DR Congo have won an 18-kick AFCON penalty shootout against Egypt and beaten Nigeria on spot kicks as part of their qualification campaign for these finals, which concluded with a win over Jamaica after extra time.During all the qualifiers, we had practically only matches akin to direct elimination, the Frenchman explained.The path for us in Africa was hard then we had that game against Uzbekistan which was do-or-die, and each time we knew how to clear the hurdle. I hope that will be the case [against England].We must play well because an average match will not be enough to qualify at this stage of a competition like the World Cup against an opponent that is fourth in the FIFA rankings.We practised penalties because we are professionals. We have a lot of possibilities for penalties; we can also switch the goalkeeper.England vs DR Congo: Pickford praises WissaEngland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has saved four of the 14 penalties he has faced in shootouts at major international tournaments, including one against Colombia in his countrys first knockout stage match at the 2018 World Cup after current squad member Jordan Henderson had been the first player not to score.Jordan is a very unique goalkeeper, said Tuchel of the participant in every tournament game for England since 2018.Hes very emotional and extrovert on the pitch and very calm and friendly off the pitch. Its quite interesting to see nice character.Everton goalkeeper Pickford praised DR Congo forward Yoane Wissa, who had a forgettable first season at Newcastle following a �55 million transfer from Brentford but has scored three times at the finals, including two against Uzbekistan.Hes a good, top player who got a big move last summer, said Pickford. I didnt play against him [last] season but he was very good for Brentford.DR Congo are a proud nation with some top talent and were ready for the best version of them, but its about us being at our best.Where to watch England v DR Congo: TV channel, live online streamsIn the UK, England vs DR Congo is on the BBC. Heres when the match starts in different territories and the winners schedule.Asterisk denotes match starting on the previous day in the specified territory.DateMatchTime (BST)ETPTChannelJuly 1DR Congo17:0012:0009:00BBCJuly 6Mexico01:0020:00*15:00*BBCJuly 11TBC22:0017:0014:00ITVJuly 15TBC20:0015:0012:00BBCJuly 18TBC22:0017:0012:00TBCJuly 19TBC20:0015:0010:00BBC, ITVWorld Cup 2026: England v DR Congo statsEngland are unbeaten in 11 competitive fixtures under Tuchel (W10) only Ron Greenwood (16, between 1977 and 1980) and Roy Hodgson (14, between 2012 and 2013) enjoyed longer undefeated starts to their tenuresThis will be the second time England have encountered two African teams at the same World Cup in 1990 they beat Egypt 1-0 in the group stage and knocked out Cameroon 3-2 in the quarter-finalsHarry Kane will move level with Geoff Hurst (4) for knockout-stage goals for England at the World Cup if he scores, with only Gary Lineker (6) netting moreThe European golden shoe winner scored three during the group stage to become Englands record scorer at the mens World CupElliot Anderson leads all England players for line-breaking passes (30), possession won (20) and duels won (24) at this World Cup, with Ecuadors Pedro Vite the only other player to achieve at least 20 in each of those categories in the group stageDR Congo ranked 38th for possession average (38.5%) in the group stage. England were third, on 65.3%Wissa has scored all but one of DR Congos goals in the competition, matching his tally across the entire 2025/26 season with NewcastleWissa averaged a goal every 301 minutes for the Magpies but has one every 90 minutes at the World CupThe 29-year-old has averaged an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.21 for each of his nine attempts at the 2026 finals, with a total xG of 1.87This is the 11th time an African team has faced a former winner in a World Cup knockout match, with Morocco the only one to have advanced when they beat Spain on penalties in the last 16 in 2022 Topics 2026 FIFA World Cup Anthony Gordon Bukayo Saka Dan Burn Declan Rice DR Congo national football team Eberechi Eze Elliot Anderson England National Football Team FIFA World Cup Harry Kane Ivan Toney John Stones Jordan Henderson Jordan Pickford Jude Bellingham Kobbie Mainoo Marc Guehi Marcus Rashford Morgan Rogers Noni Madueke Ollie Watkins Reece James World Cup World Cup 2026 Yoane Wissa Add us as a preferred source on Google If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read Spain v Austria: World Cup 2026 line-ups, stats and preview, TV channel, live online stream and prediction Jon Fisher 1st July, 2026 England v DR Congo: World Cup 2026 line-ups, stats and preview, TV channel, live online stream and prediction Jon Fisher 1st July, 2026 USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina: World Cup 2026 line-ups, stats and preview, TV channel, live online stream and prediction Jon Fisher 1st July, 2026 World Cup 2026: Where to watch England and games on TV, full BBC and ITV knockout stage listings, confirmed channels, schedule, live online streams, kick off times Ben Miller 1st July, 2026 Belgium v Senegal: World Cup 2026 line-ups, stats and preview, TV channel, live online stream and prediction Jon Fisher 1st July, 2026 Kylian Mbappe: World Cup 2026 playing schedule, fixtures, kick off times, where to watch, confirmed news updates and full France squad Ben Miller 1st July, 2026
