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

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.

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Thomas 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.

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As it stands on the morning of Friday, June 19.

Bracket A

Monday, June 29 – 9:30pm

• Germany vs Brazil

Tuesday, June 30 – 10pm

• Norway vs Netherlands

Sunday, June 28 – 8pm

• South Korea vs Switzerland

Tuesday, June 30 – 2am

• Sweden vs Morocco

Bracket B

Friday, July 3 – 12am

• DR Congo vs Ghana

Thursday, July 2 – 8pm

• Uruguay vs Austria

Thursday, July 2 – 1am

• United States vs Bosnia-Herzegovina

Wednesday, July 1 – 9pm

• New Zealand vs Czech Republic

Bracket C

Monday, June 29 – 6pm

• Scotland vs Japan

Tuesday, June 30 – 6pm

• Ivory Coast vs France

Wednesday, July 1 – 2am

• Mexico vs Spain

Wednesday, July 1 – 5pm

• England vs Portugal

Bracket D

Friday, July 3 – 11pm

• Argentina vs Saudi Arabia

Friday, July 3 – 7pm

• Australia vs Iran

Friday, July 3 – 4am

• Canada vs Belgium

Saturday, July 4 – 2:30am

• Colombia vs Ecuador