World Cup 2026 knockout phase permutations and who England will face in Round of 32

Wait 5 sec.

England’s route to the World Cup final has never been more unclear due to the ever-changing permutations of the 48-team tournament.The Three Lions took full command of Group L with a dominant 4-2 win over Croatia on Wednesday in their World Cup opener.Tuchel guided the Three Lions to a dream start at the World CupGettyThomas Tuchel‘s men can already qualify for the knockout stages with a victory over Ghana in their next game, who beat Panama 1-0.In fact, Rio Ferdinand told talkSPORT Breakfast With Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent that France were the only better offensive nation.However, not all the World Cup favourites secured such an accomplished start on matchday one.Brazil, Spain and Portugal were among the tournament powerhouses who failed to win their opening games.As a result, fans could be in line for some bonkers showdowns between World Cup heavyweights much earlier than they think…When is England’s last-32 fixture?If the Three Lions win Group L, their first World Cup knockout match will take place in Atlanta at 5pm GMT on Wednesday, July 1.talkSPORT.com have already mapped out England’s route to the final based on who Tuchel’s men are likely to face based on FIFA rankings.But below reads how each tie will play out live following the results of MD1 and will change accordingly as the World Cup continues.Teams progressing through brackets A and B will ultimately face each other in the semi-finals, and so too for brackets C and D.Ronaldo had a night to forget against the Democratic Republic of CongoGettyAs it stands on the morning of Friday, June 19.Bracket AMonday, June 29 – 9:30pmGermany vs BrazilTuesday, June 30 – 10pmNorway vs NetherlandsSunday, June 28 – 8pmSouth Korea vs SwitzerlandTuesday, June 30 – 2amSweden vs MoroccoBracket BFriday, July 3 – 12amDR Congo vs GhanaThursday, July 2 – 8pmUruguay vs AustriaThursday, July 2 – 1amUnited States vs Bosnia-HerzegovinaWednesday, July 1 – 9pmNew Zealand vs Czech RepublicBracket CMonday, June 29 – 6pmScotland vs JapanTuesday, June 30 – 6pmIvory Coast vs FranceWednesday, July 1 – 2amMexico vs SpainWednesday, July 1 – 5pmEngland vs PortugalBracket DFriday, July 3 – 11pmArgentina vs Saudi ArabiaFriday, July 3 – 7pmAustralia vs IranFriday, July 3 – 4amCanada vs BelgiumSaturday, July 4 – 2:30amColombia vs Ecuador