England vs DR Congo delivered an early upset in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 as DR Congo took a 1-0 lead into halftime at Atlanta Stadium. It was an early advantage that was taken on the African side, bringing new life to the game in a knockout that was otherwise predictable. The direct attacking move led to Brian Cipenga opening the scoring in the 7th minute.
Chancel Mbemba played a lofted ball into the near post and it was a well-played central pass to the clinical Cipenga who finished Jordan Pickford at the near post. The early target put England into a state where they had to play reactively, making them more urgent to attack. However, DR Congo’s defense did not collapse, with a good performance from their goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi.
He made several important saves, including in the stoppage time against Marcus Rashford, and then against Jude Bellingham. Mpasi also had a major influence by making a big saves save off Harry Kane, which kept the score at 0-0 before the break. As far as tactics was concerned, Thomas Tuchel made three changes to England’s starting XI. Declan Rice came back to give structure to the midfield, taking over from Morgan Rogers, while Noni Madueke was more likely than Bukayo Saka to give attacking width.
Djed Spence made the start at right-back, in the wake of injury-driven changes. The first half was a performance in contrasting efficiency of execution: DR Congo looking to maximise early opportunities but England failing to make the transition from possession to goal. England will be put to the test in the second half to see if they can come up with the right moves and control their finishing to right the wrong and prevent an early finish to the tournament.
