The United States takes the pitch in the Round of 32, looking to move past Bosnia-Herzegovina and into the Round of 16. Below, I explain why this is a solid matchup for Team USA and why I believe they will advance with relative ease. I also highlight why England is in for a tough match against DR Congo and why Senegal is being severely undervalued against Belgium. Here are the best 2026 World Cup picks for Wednesday, July 1st’s game England vs. DR Congo.
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Wednesday’s Best 2026 World Cup Picks & Predictions: England vs. DR Congo
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
England vs. DR Congo
Considering England is -1000 to advance, this seems like one of the most lopsided matches of the Round of 32. But I'd caution against blindly backing England to dominate this game.
DR Congo has been excellent defensively in this tournament. The Congolese have allowed one goal in each game, but when two of those three opponents are Portugal and Colombia, there is nothing to be ashamed of with those results.
Meanwhile, England has really struggled with teams that just sit back and play sound defense. Ghana held the English scoreless, and though England scored twice against Panama, those two goals didn't come until after 60 minutes of play, and they were scored within five minutes of each other. Aside from that one spell, England struggled to decipher the Panama defense.
Finally, while DR Congo scored three times against Uzbekistan, I'm not confident in this offense against an English defense that has posted two consecutive shutouts. I expect England to move on after a low-scoring game, but I'm going to take a chance on DR Congo keeping this within one goal.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals (-115) and DR Congo +1.5 (-105)
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.