{"id":37848,"date":"2026-07-01T09:58:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:58:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:58:33","slug":"englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"England&#8217;s next World Cup opponents decided ahead of showdown with Democratic Republic of the Congo | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>If England defeat the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32, they will face World Cup co-hosts Mexico in the last 16. Mexico secured their spot by defeating Ecuador 2-0 with goals from Julian Qui\u00f1ones and Raul Jimenez.<\/p>\n<p>This high-stakes match will take place at the historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico&#8217;s capital. This is the stadium where Mexico boasts an astonishing record of 70 wins and 2 losses out of 89 official games.<\/p>\n<p>The match is scheduled for Sunday night and will kick off at 6pm local time. However, due to the time difference, British fans watching from the UK will face a late night kick-off at 1am on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>England&#8217;s players will face a daunting physical challenge, dealing with the local heat and extreme altitude. Estadio Azteca is located at over 7,000 feet above sea level, an environment that is likely to cause elevated heart rates, shortness of breath, and rapid fatigue.<\/p>\n<p>Midfielder Declan Rice emphasized that the team&#8217;s mindset will change into a clear &#8220;block&#8221; going into the finals. He stressed that the players are expecting setbacks, surprises and tough times, and will need 100 percent focus and motivation to overcome a top-class opponent like Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2223855\/england-next-world-cup-opponents-dr-congo-mexico\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If England defeat the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32, they will face World Cup co-hosts Mexico in the last 16. Mexico secured their spot by defeating Ecuador 2-0 with goals from Julian Qui\u00f1ones and Raul Jimenez. This high-stakes match will take place at the historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico&#8217;s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>England&#039;s next World Cup opponents decided ahead of showdown with Democratic Republic of the Congo | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"England&#039;s next World Cup opponents decided ahead of showdown with Democratic Republic of the Congo | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If England defeat the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32, they will face World Cup co-hosts Mexico in the last 16. Mexico secured their spot by defeating Ecuador 2-0 with goals from Julian Qui\u00f1ones and Raul Jimenez. This high-stakes match will take place at the historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico&#8217;s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T09:58:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/\",\"name\":\"England's next World Cup opponents decided ahead of showdown with Democratic Republic of the Congo | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7014112.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T09:58:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7014112.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7014112.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/englands-next-world-cup-opponents-decided-ahead-of-showdown-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-soccer-sports\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"England&#8217;s next World Cup opponents decided ahead of showdown with Democratic Republic of the Congo | Soccer | Sports\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. 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