England vs DR Congo live online: stats, score, goals, updates | World Cup 2026

SAVE. Mpasi again with another great stop. Bellingham hits it from a tight angle and it steams towards the near post. Mpasi is almost caught out but gets a hand to it and Mbemba thunders the second ball away.

Guéhi's face stops the DRC from pulling off a stunning counter attack, and he knew nothing about it. England counter the counter and Rashford's shot crashes into the side netting at the near post.

The corner is dangerous and looks to be landing at Bellingham's feet at the back post. Masuaku gets in the way and puts it behind.

Corner to England, won by O'Reilly. Rice to swing it in.

England press and win the ball back on the right, but Anderson's pass through to Madueke is too heavy and it rolls behind for a goal kick.

Anderson gets on the end of Mbuku's cut back as the DRC come forward right from kick-off. An early warning.

Second half underway!

The DRC get us going.

Ready to go!

The players are out and we're almost ready for the second half.

That backs up my theory

They were a different team after the break, but that's when Mpasi decided to show off his skills. 

Here's a look at the goal

The ball came from Mbemba at the back, and landed with Cipenga inside the box. 

Take a look where he receives the ball, and think how narrow Spence must have been to not pick him up and not have enough time to close him down. That's how wonky the England defence was.

It's been a tough watch for England

Until the advert break, England were terrible, sitting back and letting the DRC dictate the play across the first two thirds, opening up all their options to progress. 

HT:

Cipenga 7'

HALF-TIME!

England have it all to do. And then some more. If only somebody could have told them how this was going to go.

SAVE! AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN! Mpasi gets down to stop Kane's volley at the back post and that is, again, a stunning stop.

Corner to England. Final minute of the half. Bellingham waves his arms to the crowd, asking them to cheer the ball into the goal.

Congo play the ball out from the back, slicing through England's marshmallow-soft press. They work it to Cipenga, who sees his effort blocked. Delightfully fluid play from theDRC.

My oh my. The ball into the box is laced with venom from Madueke, and Bellingham clips it with his $300 haircut, sending it to the far post.

Somehow, somehow Maspi gets a fingertip on the ball, flicking out his arm at the last second with reactions an electron would be proud of.

WHAT A SAVE! MPASI AGAIN!!! 

6 added minutes.

Rashford gets the ball on the edge of the box, skips right then left and drags his leg back to shoot... right as the ball is snatched away from him and thumped into the air.

PENALTY... NO! Kane gets away behind the defence and he goes down in the box after a ‘challenge’ from Mpasi, but the referee signals that he's dived.

POST. Wissa an inch away from buying a fast-train ticket to dreamland. Wan-Bissaka is given a free pass to drive down the right side and the shot from Wissa clips the outside of the right post.

Again, while Mbuku is on the ball on the right, Spence is having to deal with both Cipenga and Masuaku on the other side, with Madueke trotting around like he's practicing for dressage.

Corner to DRC; England seem so (too) relaxed at the back when their opponents come forward. It's borderline strange how passive they are.

Big shouts for handball as the ball is whipped in by Rice; let's see if England get any luck.

Mukau brings down Rashford on the left and gives away a cheap free-kick. He's furious but had no reason to grab the winger's arm like he did.

OFF THE LINE!!! Tuanzebe first makes a stunning challenge on Kane inside the box as he shapes to shoot. The ball lands with Madueke, who skips past Masuaku and it's Rashford with a shot that is stopped on the line by Wan-Bissaka!

It's FIFA Street stuff from Cipenga, who gets the ball inside the box and feints right before dragging the ball left, leaving one, two, three England shirts dead on the floor. His subsequent shot flies over the bar, but that was get-up-and-applaud business from the former Castellón man.

It seems Tuchel's tactical switch has been to force everyone to stand ten yards higher up the pitch; England are not sitting off any more.

WHAT A SAVE! Mpasi pulls off a sensational save to stop Bellingham's header across goal from flying into the top corner. What a stop! 

England have eaten their Weetabix during that advert break, and look a lot more threatening right now.

CLOSE. Konsa sees the free-kick flash past the near post after hitting his shin.

That's fair. Sadiki booked for his challenge.

Nice work from Spence, who skips past Masuaku before getting floored by Sadiki.

Madueke goes down in the box... but it's a no from Mr Mohammad, who waves play on.

Back underway. Tweet me and tell me what product you bought during the advert break.

The one positive of this particular hydration break is that it gives me a chance to look around and look at the sad faces of the England fans in the crowd.

“In my view, it adds nothing and takes away a lot. When [the match] was divided into four periods, no thought was given to the effect it might have on what makes football such a captivating sport, but instead to other repercussions which I'm neither discussing nor analysing.”

- Marcelo Bielsa

Advert break. Time to buy some credit cards from Christian Pulisic. 

This time it's Rashford who goes to ground, in the exact same place as Bellingham just seconds earlier. Frustration is hardening like concrete across the faces of the England players.

The resulting Congo free-kick is whipped into the box, dropping behind the defensive line, and Wissa tumbles to the ground. It's far from being a penalty, but again it's clumsy defending from England.

That's very, very late from Bellingham, who goes in heavily on Mbuku. He's booked for thefoul.

England's pressing lines are furiously disjointed, and Kane and Bellingham are quickly bypassed with a simple movement from any of the Congo midfielders.

Mpasi comes out with two huge fists to stop a dangerous cross from deep sent in by Rashford.

Moutoussamy has been everywhere so far in this game, stomping his authority on the middle of the pitch. Bellingham and Rice don't want to go anywhere near him.

Rice's corner is swung in and flies over the head of everyone in the box.

England win a corner after Rice forces a cross inside that deflects behind the Congo goal.

If anyone of an England persuasion was worried about DR Congo scoring early and shutting up shop, I have some bad news for you.

On second viewing, Spence has tucked inside and left the winger to Madueke, who simply wasn't thinking about anything to do with the football match he's playing in today in Atlanta. He might have been thinking about a spam call from an insurance company, or whether or not he fancies beans on toast for tea.

Back underway.

Is as simple as cheese and crackers. The ball is lofted over the England defence from a deep right position towards the left wing. For some reason the entire England back line is completely disjointed and Spence, occupied with his marker, is left to deal with two players.

The ball lands behind the full-back, at the feet of Cipenga, who slots past Pickford to put his nation ahead.

As expected, the DRC are happy to watch England pass around in the wide areas before snapping into action when the ball is turned inside. It's working so far in this opening stage, as the African side have had the majority of the ball.

Madueke is played in down the right by Kane after the ex-Spurs man intercepted a loose pass from Wan-Bissaka on halfway. The ball flies out of play after it's switched to Rashford and sent over the bar from range.

Bellingham almost gets in the way of Mpasi's long kick from the back, and that would've been disastrous for the goalkeeper, who left it late to put his boot through the ball.

England snap into their press as the DRC build up from the back. It's certainly a 4-3-3 from Desabre here tonight, with Moutoussamy as the holding player.

England long ball from kick-off. Tick that one off your bingo sheet.

Here we go...

Strap yourselves in, guys.

National anthems!

England really could change theirs to World In Motion, and just do the John Barnes rap verse, I genuinely think nobody would complain, and I'd enjoy it much more.

REF WATCH!

The referee is Adham Mohammad, from Jordan. He's on page 42 of the spotter's guide.

The players are in the tunnel!

I have to say, I really dislike the open tunnel full of fans waving their cameras in the faces of the players. Feels like such a distraction.

In case you were wondering...

Gianni's bedsheet, the big FIFA logo that gets waved wildly ahead of the games, has just been unfurled. So have the huge flags.

Not long to go!

Both sides have trotted down the tunnel and are having the final team talks before kick-off!

Panama v England: Group L - FIFA World Cup 2026

Harry Kane has had a very impressive World Cup so far, scoring 3 goals and easily being England's biggest goal threat. But let's see how he gets on against the low block of DR Congo, who will look to close off every space in and around him today.

The African side are not necessarily low-block specialists, but they certainly know how to frustrate, like they showed against Portugal, and they'll be up for doing the same against Kane and co.

A reminder of the XIs: DR Congo

Here's how the DRC will go into the game.

A reminder of the XIS: England

Here's how England line up for the game.

The stadium is filling up...

I have to say, the stadium is fillingup, and it's mostly England fans as far as I can tell. There are a small section of DRC fans up in the corner, but by the time the game kicks off, we'll have mostly white shirts in the stands.

Bakambu makes way

it's one change for the DRC, as Cédric Bakambu makes way for midfielder Ngal’ayel Mukau.

With Spence in the side for England, that's clearly a back four, meaning Wissa can go 1vs2 up front. That change has given Dseabre, the DRC manager, the chance to plug the midfield with bodies, creating a tight block that can crowd out any potential England threat and force them wide.

It'll likely be 3vs3 in the middle, with DRC looking to stifle and creativity and shut down any space as Englandhuff and puff. Boy, are we in for a treat here.

The talisman

Wissa is undoubtedly DR Congo's talisman, and a player England need to keep a close eye on this evening in Atlanta. 

Tuchel promising big things...

I think this is not the moment to shine and expect glamorous performances. This is the moment to go through, to get the job done.

I'm impressed by this guy

Noah Sadiki's move to Sunderland raised a lot of eyebrows, and not because nobody knew who he was. Instead, the PremierLeague transfer was a shock as many believed a team higher up the food chain could and would come in for the former Union SG player, having shone in Belgium.

He played 33 times in his debut season in England and did very well considering even the best can struggle to adapt. Now he's on the world stage at the World Cup and is making Mackems proud.

Are England any good?

Good question. The truth is that we're yet to see whether or not this England side can kick it with the big boys of football, as this iteration of the Three Lions hasn't really had the chance to do so.

At present, I couldn't name you a fixed starting XI, nor could I tell you exactly how they're going to play in each game. That's not, believe it or not, down to my knowledge of lack thereof, instead it says more about Tuchel's potential uncertainty regarding what he wants and can get.

The manager said he expects England to play “better against better sides”, so I guess we'll have to see if they can get past this stubborn DR Congo team, who are certainly no pushovers.

Who does the winner play?

Well, here's the interesting thing. The winner of England vs DR Congo will take on none other than Mexico, at the Estadio Azteca. That's as much of a ‘thrown into the bear pit’ game as a game of football can get, comparable only with a literal bear pit.

The co-hosts beat Ecuador in their Round of 16 game, crushing them like a paper cup as the Azteca crowd kept the pressure up for 90 minutes.

This is just great news

We've also got confirmation of DRC's kit news, which is why we're all here. They'll be playing in their simply delightful blue shirt; I must get my hands on one of these...

England's XI confirmation

Here's the official confirmation of England's starting XI. It's also a confirmation of them playing in the white kit, which is nice (although I do enjoy the red one, except for the strange colour).

Who to watch out for: DR Congo

In the African side, their main attacking threat comes from Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa. The Premier League striker didn't have the best domestic season after a big money move from Brentford scoring just one goal, but he's been a handful at the World Cup so far.

Wingers, wingers, wingers

One of the big questions facing England at the World Cup so far is what to do with all the wingers. Thomas Tuchel, the manager, has brought along wide players with very distinct skillsets. Rashford lookedgood in England's final group game, against Panama, while Anthony Gordon has not really taken his chance at becoming a starter.

On the other side, Madueke can frustrate but he's always there to cause trouble for a defender, while Bukayo Saka, the presumed first choice, is not fully fit. 

Here's how DR Congo made it through:

The African nation were one of the best third-placed teams in the groups. Thanks to Gianni's expansion that benefit his mandate - sorry, the world game - DR Congo progressed into the Round of 32. 

Most surprisingly in their group phase was a draw with Portugal, who they made look as blunt as a bouncy castle up front. That's quite the feat. considering the elite attacking talent they've got at number 9. He's just moved to AC Milan, by the way, has Gonçalo Ramos.

The right-back question:

It's not quite Prince Hamlet in Act 3, Scene 1, but it's a pretty good question.

The biggest selection issue is at right back after injuries disrupted England's plans. Reece James’ tournament appears to be over with a hamstring problem, while Jarell Quansah is also expected to miss out after rolling his ankle against Panama.

That should open the door for Djed Spence, who has already featured in all three group games and now looks set for his first World Cup knockout start.

What to expect

Today, we can expect one of two things to happen:

1. England win comfortably and progress to the Round of 16.

2. The game kicks off. A long ball flies through the air, signalling to those below like a shooting star to a caveman, that they must get into position. England's players surround the DRC box, while the blue shirts fight for their lives and fend off every challenge that comes their way. The clock ticks on. Eyes bleed. Mouths dry. Five senses become four, three, two, one. Something happens and somebody wins, apparently going through to the next round. We don't know. But at least we never have to witness that again.

Welcome

Well hello there, you've found yourself at the AS USA live feed for England vs DR Congo in the World Cup Round of 32.

It's Joe here to take you through the action in Atlanta.

Brace yourselves for this one, it's going to be, erm, interesting!