England’s road to the World Cup final explained – every match and every possible opponent
Every match England could play on their route to the World Cup final - and every team who could stand in their way.
Having successfully emerged from Group L as winners, England enter the knockout rounds with just five matches standing between them and the World Cup trophy – and now that the knockout rounds are underway, we know exactly who they might face as they attempt to reach the final in New York on 19 July.
The vagaries of the expanded 48-team format meant that England only knew their potential opponents for the rest of the tournament once the final group stages games were completed late on Saturday evening – but they can now chart a course towards a first world championship in 60 years. All that remains now is to actually win the games - a challenge that has, of course, proven to be beyond every England side for the last six decades.
So just how difficult is England’s draw, and who stands between them and the final? We’ve broken down England’s fixtures, potential opponents and the challenges that face the Three Lions below.
Last 32 – Wednesday 1 July 17:00, Atlanta
England will get the second phase of their World Cup campaign underway against the Democratic Republic of Congo, who finished as one of the eight best third-placed teams after collecting four points from their games in Group K.
That included a thoroughly creditable and deserved draw against Portugal in their opening fixture and a comfortable win over Uzbekistan, while a strong Colombian side only scraped past them to hand Sébastien Desabre’s side their sole defeat. England will go into Wednesday’s game as favourites, but this is unlikely to be an easy match.
DR Congo boast a sturdy defence which has conceded just seven goals in its last 16 games, and their star player – Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa – has found some long-awaited form at the World Cup, scoring three times already as he begins to look a lot more like the striker who shone at Brentford rather than the injury-addled forward who has struggled at St. James’ Park. If England’s defence endure too many of the nervy moments that marked their progress through the group stage, then this article could become redundant very quickly indeed.
Last 16 – Monday 6 July 01:00, Mexico City
Potential Opponents: Mexico or Ecuador
Assuming England do manage to navigate their way past DR Congo they will face their first (and only) game outside of the United States, travelling to the Estadio Azteca to face either co-hosts Mexico or a rugged Ecuadorian side.
Mexico breezed through an admittedly modest Group A, while Ecuador squeezed into the knockout stages after upsetting Germany 2-1 in their final match. Both sides are somewhat limited in attack but have strong, well-organised defences and immense energy, and that latter attribute could become even more apparent at altitude.
The Azteca is 2,240m above sea level, at which altitude every breath takes in around a quarter less oxygen. For athletes who aren’t used to such conditions, which includes the entire England team, that can be a very difficult problem to overcome, especially with extremely limited time available to acclimatise. Mexico are well used to playing at the Azteca, and plenty of Ecuador’s players will have experience at altitude as well. Even if they were weak sides – which they aren’t – this could be a colossal banana skin for a side like England. The last 16 is likely to be an extremely stern test of England’s World Cup credentials.
Quarter-final – Saturday 11 July 22:00, Miami
Potential Opponents: Brazil, Japan, Ivory Coast or Norway
If England get out of the Azteca with a win then they’ll be back at sea level in Florida, where they started their preparations for the tournament – but while they may be a little more familiar with the conditions, things won’t get any easier on the pitch.
Even if five-time champions Brazil don’t make it this far, England would face one of what are arguably the three teams who entered the knockout phase making the strongest cases to be the tournament’s dark horses – an Erling Haaland-inspired Norway, a Yan Diomande-infused Ivory Coast, and a Japan side that beat England at Wembley just a few months ago.
Nobody expects a World Cup quarter-final to be easy, of course, but there is no world in which England get lucky with the draw at this stage. Whoever they face will represent an exceptionally tough test.
Semi-final – Wednesday 15 July 20:00, Atlanta
Potential Opponents: Argentina, Colombia, Cape Verde, Australia, Egypt, Switzerland, Algeria or Ghana
England will have cleared a couple of very high bars if they make it to the semi-finals, when they would be back at Atlanta to take on one of eight teams – but it’s fair to say that this perhaps the gentlest quarter of the draw, with reigning champions Argentina certainly the scariest side that England could face.
Lionel Messi and company appear to have been rather fortunate with the way that the bracket has panned out and few would bet against them reaching the final four once again, even if Colombia could present a very stern challenge – the two South American sides could meet each other in the quarter-finals.
If there’s an upset somewhere down the line then England could easily end up facing a side that weren’t expected to make it quite as far as the semis. If the formbook holds, however, then the greatest of all time (and 10 other players, apparently) lies in wait should England make it to a second semi-final in the last three World Cups.
Final – Sunday 19 July 20:00, New York
Potential Opponents: France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Croatia and 10 others
The final will take place in the MetLife Stadium on 19 July, the same venue in which England just beat Panama 2-0. There’s an awful lot of football to be played between now and then, and it’s anybody’s guess as to who might be competing in it – the ‘top’ half of the draw is backed with strong sides.
As well as six of Europe’s strongest footballing nations, there are the other two host countries – the United States and Canada – and the two finalists from January’s hugely controversial Africa Cup of Nations final, Senegal and Morocco. The European sides will be the favourites to make it to the end, but it’s fair to assume that whoever makes it will present some pretty stiff competition. Will England make it far enough to worry about which of 16 teams could make it from the other side of the knockout bracket? We’ll find out in a few weeks… or perhaps on Wednesday evening, should everything go south from the very start.