Well, here’s the big day for local interest in the first knockout round: both England and the USA in action. The nations are expecting, on both sides of the Atlantic.
I will be at the US game in Santa Clara, and I’m quite excited for that.
LFG!
ENGLAND vs. DR CONGO
On paper, this looks to be a laugher for the Three Lions. But Thomas Tuchel’s outfit haven’t exactly looked the well oiled machine we might have been expecting, and they’ve struggled a bit too much for anyone’s liking despite the unbeaten run through the group
stage (with only just the two goals to Croatia conceded in the first 45 minutes at the tournament). And they’ll be without Reece James, who’s nursing a minor hamstring problem. Might Trevoh Chalobah factor in as a result in some way?
Meanwhile, DR Congo have been anything but an easy out, holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw and only just losing to Colombia by the narrowest of margins, 1-0. A 3-1 win over Uzbekistan on the final day of group stage ensured their participation in the knockout rounds for the first time ever, and now they’re looking for a major upset and some more history.
Date / Time: Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 12pm EDT; 5pm BST
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA, USA
Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); BBC One (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); BBC iPlayer (UK)
BELGIUM vs. SENEGAL
Similarly to England, Belgium have failed to get pulses racing with their one win and two draws in the group stage, but they’ve still got some proven winners who can step up at the right time to make a difference. Romelu Lukaku has twice come off to bench to make nearly immediate impact, for example.
Senegal’s World Cup has been a bit of a rollercoaster. They looked great at first, but lost to France anyway, then looked less great but almost beat Norway before losing by the odd goal in five. They ensured their participation in the Round of 32 by running up the score against Iraq, 5-0, in the third game. Nicolas Jackson’s still looking for his first goal (he does one assist); Mamadou Sarr’s looking for his first minutes.
Date / Time: Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 4pm EDT; 9pm BST
Venue: Lumen Field, Seattle, WA, USA
Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); BBC One (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); BBC iPlayer (UK)
USA vs. BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
I had someone ask me earlier today, how is it fair that we (i.e. the US) are playing against two countries in this game? Massive knowledge gaps in geography aside, thankfully we only have to play against one team to advance. And that one team is one of the weaker teams to have made it out of the group stage, thanks to a perfunctory win against Qatar after suffering a beatdown from Switzerland and getting a lucky draw against Canada.
But strange things can happen in single-elimination games, as we’ve already seen from Paraguay. Bosnia could certainly frustrate the US. And lest we forget, they had the best (unofficial) World Cup song, which contained the prophetic line “take me to Golden Gate”. Well, they are here, in the Bay Area, in the shadow of the Golden Gate (the Golden Gate bridge spans the mouth of San Francisco Bay, at the bottom of which is Santa Clara, where the match is being played).
Christian Pulisic looks to have recovered from his injury and is set to start for the Stars & Stripes, who played largely a B-team against Turkey in the final, meaningless group game, and still almost pulled off a win. Mauricio Pochettino has got the good vibes going, hopefully straight into the next round.
Date / Time: Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 8pm EDT; 1am BST (next day)
Venue: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); BBC One (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); BBC iPlayer (UK)
