England booked their place in the Round of 16 with a nail-biting 2-1 victory over DR Congo at the Atlanta Stadium. However, that final score completely glosses over the fact that it was a 80-minute panic attack for the Three Lions.
DR Congo went into this knockout game fearless and took Thomas Tuchel’s men into hell.
Early scare
DR Congo were on cloud nine throughout the stadium, riding an wave of raw emotion from the first whistle. Within the seventh minute they were 1-0 up thanks to Brian Cipenga. This sent the Congolese crowd into pandemonium and the English looking shocked as they failed to string a pass together. Their rigid defence made England look lost and clueless, reminding them of past tournament failures.
Goalkeeping wonder from Lionel Mpasi
We absolutely have to talk about Lionel Mpasi. This is perhaps the greatest individual performance of any goalkeeper at a World Cup in the modern era. He was an impenetrable force for DR Congo, making several outrageous, physics-defying saves.
With possession constantly going one way, England’s attack must have started believing that they would just run into him all game, day in, day out.
Gordon adds the fire
That all changed when Thomas Tuchel realised possession for possession’s sake wasn’t going to cut it, replacing Marcus Rashford with newest Barcelona signing Anthony Gordon in the 60th minute. This was a masterstroke and changed the course of the match in an instant. Gordon added the directness and intensity the English were missing throughout the game.
Instead of passing it backwards or side to side, he took on his full-back at every opportunity and constantly put DR Congo on the back foot.
The equalizer came in the 75th minute through Harry Kane after a fantastic pass from Gordon. And in the 86th minute, the two combined again as Kane hammered home a second after Gordon’s well-placed through ball. Anthiny Gordon really provided when it mattered the most and silenced the critics.
Heartbreak for the DR Congo side who gave it their all, they took one of the favourites all the way but England’s sustained pressure and offensive dominance in the second half earned them survival.
England move forward and will face Mexuco in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
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