Who is England’s likeliest opponent in the World Cup Round of 32?

England are through to the last 32 stage of the 2026 World Cup as winners of Group L – but who will they face in the next round?

After two wins and one draw, England are through to the elongated knockout stages with several tough opponents potentially on the horizon.

Here’s who England will likely face depending on where they finish:

Opponents

England’s group is one where the winner will play one of the eight best third-place teams and their opponent will come from Group E, I, J or K.

For mathematical reasons that are simply too hard in the middle of a heatwave, England has a 66.67% chance of playing the team from Group K should they be one of the best third-place teams.

It then goes to 22.83% for Group I, 5.86% for Group E and 4.04% for Group J.

So the most likely scenario is that if England win the group they play one of Portugal, DR Congo or Uzbekistan.

We can pretty much rule out the last team as they are on zero points with a -7 goal difference. Portugal are second currently in that group ahead of facing leaders Colombia in the final game.

DR Congo need to win against Uzbekistan to secure their status as a third-place team.

There is a small possibility they could finish second should Portugal lose and DR Congo be able to turn their -1 goal difference into something better than Portugal’s which is currently at +5.

Should DR Congo draw and not qualify as a third-place team, England’s likely opponents will come from Group I. For England fans, this should be marked as ‘scenarios to avoid’ as Group I is one of the toughest.

Senegal have finished third in that group on three points after beating whipping boys Iraq 5-0 in the final game. That boost to their goal difference has given them a good chance of going through.

Ecuador and either Austria or Algeria are also potential opponents, but vanishingly unlikely.

Whoever England face, they would do so at the Atlantic Stadium in Georgia on July 1.

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