Full Time
England scraped past DR Congo 2-1, needing two late goals from Harry Kane to turn around Brian Cipenga's early shock strike. Cipenga stunned the Three Lions with a seventh-minute opener in DR Congo's first ever World Cup knockout match, and for long spells a famous upset looked on. Kane had other ideas: his brace in the final quarter of an hour, capped by an 86th-minute winner, took him past Pele's tally of World Cup goals and dragged England over the line. England now face co-hosts Mexico in the last 16; DR Congo are out, but can be proud of pushing one of the tournament favourites all the way in their first ever knockout appearance.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1This is the one where a bad day actually ends the tournament. England topped Group L, so on paper they're miles ahead, but lose this and Tuchel's tenure gets very uncomfortable very fast. For DR Congo, just being here is already history — beat England and they're into the last 16 to face Mexico, a story nobody saw coming a month ago.
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2There's no history to lean on here, which is rare for a World Cup knockout tie — England and DR Congo have never played each other before, at any level, in any competition. So no grudges, no past penalty heartbreak to bring up, just two nations meeting for the first time with a quarter-final route on the line.
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3Keep an eye on Yoane Wissa. The Newcastle striker has scored three goals at this World Cup, the same tally as Harry Kane, which is a genuinely funny stat to drop on anyone who assumes DR Congo are just making up the numbers. If England's back line switches off for a second, he's the one who punishes it.
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4England's team news is a bit of a mess at right-back — Reece James and Jarell Quansah are both out injured, so Djed Spence is expected to start there. Add that to the fact England have looked toothless against sides who sit deep, and DR Congo's disciplined low block (they haven't lost by more than a single goal under their coach in four years) is a proper puzzle for Tuchel to solve.
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5DR Congo's last World Cup appearance was 1974, when they played as Zaire and didn't score a single goal in three games. Fifty-two years later they're back, via a play-off win over Jamaica, and whatever happens against England tonight, that alone is worth raising a glass to.
Team Talking Points
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1England beat France 6-4 in Miami last night to take third place at the 2026 World Cup — their best finish since they won the whole thing outright in 1966. Ten goals in one match is a new record for a third-place game, the highest-scoring one in World Cup history. Bronze isn't gold, but it's the best England have managed in sixty years, so let them have this one.
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2Bukayo Saka came off the bench and scored a hat-trick — his second for England — having been dropped for the semi-final defeat to Argentina in favour of Morgan Rogers. He'd spent the days before insisting he was fully fit and wanted more minutes; three goals later, he'd made the point better than any interview could. Drop this in and you'll sound like you've been tracking the team sheet all tournament.
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3Jude Bellingham got in on it too, scoring deep into stoppage time for his seventh goal of the tournament — the kind of tally that puts him right in the conversation for the competition's top scorer, even in a match that didn't count for silverware.
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4France weren't just making up the numbers either — Kylian Mbappé scored twice and, somewhere in the chaos, became the World Cup's all-time leading scorer, overtaking Messi's old record of 21. It's a genuinely huge milestone that got almost completely buried under the goalfest around it.
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5Manager Thomas Tuchel had grumbled beforehand that 'nobody wants to play' the third-place match, then watched his team produce one of the most entertaining games of the whole tournament. He's since talked about the semi-final exit leaving 'scars' England will use as fuel heading into Euro 2028 — so treat bronze as the start of a comeback story, not the end of one.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Saka came off the bench and banged in a hat-trick in a 6-4 game against France — bronze medal, best England finish since '66, and he wasn't even supposed to be on that long.
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Avoid saying
"So they lost, then?" — England just won a bronze medal in the highest-scoring third-place game in World Cup history, with a Saka hat-trick from the bench. Lead with the semi-final defeat instead of that and you'll sound like you switched off after the Argentina game.
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1DR Congo's World Cup ended in the Round of 32 against England — they actually took the lead, before Harry Kane scored twice late on to send them out. Losing to England happens to a lot of teams; taking the lead against them first is the part DR Congo can be proud of.
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2Just being there was already history: this was DR Congo's first World Cup in 52 years, and they became the first Congolese side ever to reach the knockout stage.
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3The breakout story of their whole run was Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa, who scored three goals in the group stage — including DR Congo's first ever World Cup goal, a stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal that turned a defeat into a point.
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4They backed that up with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, Wissa on the scoresheet twice more either side of a goal from Mayele — enough to send DR Congo through as one of the best third-placed teams in the tournament.
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5A 52-year wait, a first ever knockout appearance, and a new star in Yoane Wissa to build the next cycle around — DR Congo's tournament ended in defeat, but it's hard to find much of a downside in how they got there.
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Top thing to say down the pub
DR Congo hadn't been to a World Cup in 52 years, then Yoane Wissa scored their first ever goal in one, in stoppage time, to save a point against Portugal. However it ends, that's a story worth knowing.
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Avoid saying
"Congo" on its own, or mixing them up with Congo-Brazzaville — this is DR Congo, a different country, and getting that wrong in front of an actual fan undoes any goodwill you built up mentioning the 52-year gap.