TOP OF THE GROUP: ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP SO FAR, AND THE JOB AHEAD AGAINST DR CONGO 

 Published: 30/06/2026 | By: Alex Courbat

Seven points from three games and top of Group L. However you slice it, that's a tidy return, and English football has every right to feel good about where this team sits heading into the knockouts. Thomas Tuchel's side have shown enough in patches to suggest there's real substance here, even if the bigger performances are still to come. 

The opener against Croatia was the kind of statement England fans dream about before a tournament even gets going. Four goals in Dallas, a repeat of the 2018 semi-final settled emphatically this time, Harry Kane scoring twice including a re-taken penalty, Jude Bellingham timing a run to perfection just after half time, and Marcus Rashford rounding things off late as a substitute. It was sharp, direct, and full of the attacking talent this squad has in abundance. If England play like that consistently, there isn't a side at this World Cup who'll relish facing them. 

Ghana then offered the kind of test that tournament football always throws up, a well-drilled, disciplined side happy to sit in and frustrate, and England found it tough to find the breakthrough. Nico O'Reilly rattled the bar, Kane was unlucky not to convert the rebound, and the game finished goalless. It's the sort of result that looks underwhelming on paper but is honestly one of the most common patterns in World Cup football, good teams getting stuck on a low block and needing patience rather than panic to solve it. Tuchel's animated touchline moment with Djed Spence was, by his own account, about pushing the full back to get further up the pitch and more involved in the build, exactly the kind of fine tuning a manager should be doing live in a tournament. That's a coach problem solving in real time, which is a good sign for what comes next. 

Panama in the finale needed England to dig in for an hour before finding their stride, and they did exactly that. Bellingham broke the deadlock from a Saka corner, then turned provider five minutes later, setting up Kane for a header that made him England's all-time leading scorer at World Cups, moving him past Gary Lineker. Two goals in five minutes when it mattered most, in the biggest game of the group, with qualification and seeding both on the line. That's the kind of composure under pressure you want from a team with genuine ambitions this summer, and it's exactly why England go into the knockouts as one of the most fancied sides in the field outside the usual favourites. 

 Bellingham deserves a special mention here. A goal and an assist against Panama on top of his involvement against Croatia, and the calm to take control of a game when things had gone quiet around him. Gary Neville was full of praise after the Panama win, and it's easy to see why. If he keeps producing performances like that, England have arguably their most important player firing at exactly the right time. 

There's been a bit of an injury picture to manage too, though nothing that should dampen the mood too much. Reece James is on the touchline with a hamstring issue and is on an accelerated recovery programme, with the hope he'll be back for the latter stages of the tournament.   

Tino Livramento's gone home early too, which left full back cover thinner than ideal, and Djed Spence, Jarell Quansah and Ezri Konsa have all had to be ready to step in.  

Bukayo Saka has been carefully and sensibly managed throughout, working back from an Achilles issue that affected the back end of his club season, and the fact Tuchel and the medical team have taken their time with him, rather than rushing him back, is exactly the kind of long term thinking that should pay off across a long tournament.  

Declan Rice played through a calf knock against Ghana and now carries a yellow card into the knockouts, something the camp will simply need to manage with smart in-game decisions. None of this is anything close to a crisis, more a reminder that squad depth and careful rotation are going to matter just as much as Saturday's starting eleven. 

Looking ahead to DR Congo, there's a clear and very achievable opportunity for England to put down a real marker. The Congolese have been the standout story of the tournament's first fortnight, reaching the knockouts for the first time since they competed as Zaire back in 1974, sealed by a stirring 3-1 comeback against Uzbekistan in which Yoane Wissa became the first Congolese player ever to score at a World Cup.  

Sébastien Desabre has built them into a disciplined, well organised side who like to play on the counter through Wissa and Cédric Bakambu, and they conceded only six goals across ten qualifying matches, so there's genuine respect due there. They held Portugal to a draw and pushed Colombia close, and they'll arrive in Atlanta with nothing to lose and a wave of history behind them. 

For England, the clearest route to making this a comfortable night is to take the lessons from Ghana and Panama and apply them from the very first whistle rather than the hour mark. Both of those results came good because England eventually found width, patience, and a moment of quality from Bellingham, and there's a real opportunity now to bring that sharpness out early rather than later, especially against a side who'll likely sit in and look to break.

Getting Saka fully up to speed and James back into contention as soon as possible will only add more attacking variety to call upon, and a fully fit, fully rotated squad firing together is a genuinely exciting prospect for the rounds that follow. There's also a nice chance here for Tuchel to show a bit more variation off the bench, bringing on something different rather than a like for like swap, which would round out what's already a very talented squad with a bit more tactical range to match.

All told, England go into the last 32 unbeaten, top of their group, with their captain rewriting the record books and their best player hitting form at exactly the right time. There's plenty to build on, a clear and winnable game in front of them, and every reason to believe the version of this team that turned up against Croatia is the one capable of going a long way this summer.