PREVIEW: England look to advance to last 16 against DR Congo

Having topped their group with seven points from a possible nine, England will now face DR Congo in the round of 32, with a win setting up a last 16 tie with Mexico at the Azteca this weekend.

DR Congo advanced to the knockout rounds after finishing as the best third-place team, with four points and a positive goal difference, overcoming a group that included Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan. They drew their opening game 1-1 with Portugal, then lost 1-0 to Colombia and defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 in their final group game.

Meanwhile, the Three Lions perhaps had a mildly underwhelming group stage despite their strong opening performance against Croatia, as it was followed by a goalless draw with Ghana and an unconvincing 2-0 win over Panama this past Saturday night thanks to second half goals from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.

England struggled to break down the low blocks of their final two opponents in the group, which doesn’t bode particularly well heading into this meeting with DR Congo, who will likely look to frustrate England rather than pressing them high up the pitch and leaving gaps for players like Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Bellingham to operate in.

Yoane Wissa has been the standout performer for Les Léopards; he found the net three times in the group stage, including a spectacular finish from outside the area in their win over Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Kane and Bellingham have been shining lights for England so far, with five of England’s six goals so far coming from the pair.

Thankfully for Thomas Tuchel, Declan Rice looks set to start this match having missed out against Panama with a calf injury. The injury problems continue at right-back, however, after it was announced that Reece James would miss out on this one.

Kick-off is scheduled for 5pm BST and will be broadcast live on BBC One.